How not to land a Nanchang CJ-6 [video]

[FlySigi]

Nanchang CJ-6A (C-FTQW) gear-up landing during the Western Warbirds Association (WWA) meeting at the Oliver Airport (CAU3) in BC Canada [September 07, 2013].


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrpbsC5eXK0

[rwanttaja]

If the gear *won't* lower, that's a pretty good way to land a Nanchang. So was it a mechanical issue, or a short-circuit between the headphones?

Ron Wanttaja

[Downs]

as it flew by in the video it looked like the gear was only partially down. So possibly mechanical malf.

[rwanttaja]

as it flew by in the video it looked like the gear was only partially down. So possibly mechanical malf.
Actually, I think it's like the DC-3 and B-17...the gear doesn't completely retract. Should minimize the damage on a gear-up.

Ron Wanttaja

[champ driver]

Ron is correct, the mains fold straight back and don't rotate like the P-40 does so there's always some part of the wheel exposed below the wing surface.

[cluttonfred]

It was a very smooth landing, considering.

[Rod Schneider]

The video of the recovery is also online. With the airplane picked up by a tow truck, it looks like the gear was extended pneumatically by someone in the cockpit. It seemed to come down rather forcefully and the plane was pulled away on its own wheels.

[Floatsflyer]

If the gear *won't* lower, that's a pretty good way to land a Nanchang. So was it a mechanical issue, or a short-circuit between the headphones?

Ron Wanttaja

I've never flown retracts so no critique from me but this follow-up video appears to confirm the latter. Hey, s**t happens...even to us Canadians.

http://youtu.be/KBvLW7Rq3YI

[I_FLY_LOW]

That was one expensive landing...

[David Pavlich]

Some good timing on shutting off the engine. Prop stops and a split section later, touchdown. Not bad!

David

[Mayhemxpc]

Not really about the timing. Props hit pavement, which stop the engine rather quickly. (Kind of like feathering with a bit more force.) You can see that all three blades end up with that nifty high-tech backsweep. Been there, done that, in a different type. Although I was not PIC, I will also admit that a gear up landing requires a team effort. Generally speaking, they don't do much damage to the airplane. If it wasn't for the sudden engine stoppage, they may not even rise to the level of a reportable incident. (My experience, for example, did not. An understanding airport manager helps in that department.) But...the engine stoppage requires a complete teardown, which is expensive. And that doesn't include the likely flat spots on the camshaft and or crankshaft.

Great video. Good material for and chapter/aeroclub/CAP squadron safety meeting.

[mgtaylor]

He shuts the engine OFF just prior to touch down after he's made the runway and completed his flair. It would appear to me he made a deliberate gear up landing on a paved runway. I would have to assume he had a good reason.

Mike

[Floatsflyer]

Mike & David have superior eyesight. Both of them are absolutely correct--the prop is at a complete stop a nanosecond(or 2) before it comes in contact with the runway. If you do a quick play & pause you too will see this.

[Bob Dingley]

Mike & David have superior eyesight. Both of them are absolutely correct--the prop is at a complete stop a nanosecond(or 2) before it comes in contact with the runway. If you do a quick play & pause you too will see this.
Looks like an almost stop. The blade at 8 o'clock seemed to rotate CCW to 6 o'clock and tick the rw at touch down then rotate to 4 o'clock. I guess the CJ-6 doesn't have a feather feature. Prop windmilled likely because of the hot aproach. Does the CJ-6 not have an emergency gear extension capability?

[RetroAcro]

Mike & David have superior eyesight. Both of them are absolutely correct--the prop is at a complete stop a nanosecond(or 2) before it comes in contact with the runway. If you do a quick play & pause you too will see this.

I have a hard time believing anyone is that good in such an unpracticed scenario. Plus you can hear the sound of the prop hitting the pavement as it spins down, followed by the continuous scraping sound. Ever stick a piece of paper in a fan blade as a kid? That's what the sound of the prop smacking the pavement here reminds me of.

[Frank Giger]

I've watched both the landing and the recovery videos a couple times, and I think there's one of two possible scenarios:

1) Gear wouldn't go down for some reason, and this pilot had done a wheels-up landing before and so knew just what to do. Prop position at the kill was just random luck (I only saw one prop bent). What we see in the recovery video doesn't show what all transpired between landing and lift - the problem could have been spotted and corrected before the lift.

2) Somebody said "Gear - GEAR - S&*$ - GEAR!" way too late to firewall for a go-around but soon enough to have the presence of mind to kill the engine.

Either way it's a good showing on a cool headed pilot; nobody was hurt and the plane is in repairable condition.

[Ernie]

Some good timing on shutting off the engine. Prop stops and a split section later, touchdown. Not bad!

David
Doesn't that sort of indicate he knew the gear was up?

[Southron]

Like that say: "When you land with the gear "UP," it takes full power to taxi to the ramp."

[JimRice85]

Yak gear folds forward against bottom of the wing. CJ-6 gear folds inward and is enclosed in wing. Only the nose wheel remains somewhat exposed.

Gear is pneumatic, IIRC.

[Southron]

My greeting to him was fairly short: "There has got to be a good story about what happened to this Merlin." My mechanic buddy chuckled and said: "There sure is one-here is what happened." "Yesterday afternoon I heard this airplane taxi up and the engines shut down" Then I heard a lot of hollering and screaming."When I walked outside, the Pilot and Co-Pilot were standing on the tarmac with Hang-dog, embarrassed looks on their faces." "The fella standing in front of them was very mad and doing the hollering at them." "He was wearing a business suit, and as I learned later, he was the CEO of _______ corporation." [I don't remember the name of a corporation but it was a Fortune 500 corporation.] Also, there were a few other men wearing business suits standing around and they were members of the corporation's Board of Directors.

By then, my interest was peaked. So, my next question was: "So, the pilots attempted a Gear-Up Landing here and then did a "Go Around?" My friend shook his head: "Nope, they tried to do a Gear-Up Landing at a small municipal airport near-by." He shook his head and continued: "Well, when the prop tips started eating the concrete of the runway, the Captain applied full power and pulled the nose WAY UP!"

Glancing in the direction of the Merlin's tail he said: "That is when the tail dragged the runway before the airplane became airborne." "Needless to say, during the flight over here, the airplane was VIBRATING A LOT." "When they landed here, this time the pilots managed to lower the landing gear before setting this Merlin down."

"Geeze," I said, "I am one of those silly pilots that always uses a Check List and yet have to land Gear-Up."

THIS IS A TRUE STORY AND THERE IS A MORAL IN IT SOMEWHERE.

[pittsdriver3]

The guy flat forgot the gear period. You have to be brain dead to not realize the gear isn't down on a CJ as it adds an incredible amount of drag. His approach speed looks way too fast also. Looks to me like he had nothing to do with stopping the engine as you can see all three tips hit the runway before the engine stops. When they picked it up the gear comes down just fine. By the way the CJ has a very good emergency gear extension system. I owned a Cj for 5 years and put around 450 hrs in it. Great airplane and I'll probably own another. Don

[az350x]

It's pretty hard to look cool after a landing like that. After watching the recovery video, and seeing/hearing the pneumatically-operated gear extend rather forcefully, I'd have to say it appears the landing was inadvertent, in my opinion. Doh! Figures it'd happen at a fly-in with many onlookers and cameras rolling- the guy has MY luck it appears. :) (No- for the time being, I'm still a member of the "those who will" club, where I hope to remain.)

[Bill Greenwood]

I have almost had a gear up landing, was distracted by something and saved by the Cessna pilot who came on the radio as I turned base. Would I have caught the lack of drag on my own? Possibly, probably not.
I once in about 10 years of flying a T-34A came in to land and the gear did not go down. I caught it on final, no green lights, and I went around and out, and cranked the gear down by hand. The problem was found to be a short in the wiring in the rear cockpit gear switch. The would have been an embarrassing mistake had I landed that way, as the plane was already sold and I was on my way back from Sun N Fun and only had about 3 more landing to deliver it to the new owner and collect the balance of the money.
Another time I was landing at the airshow at Geneseeo and did not have a green light in the cockpit after lowering the gear, so I went around. I had mechanical indicators in the wings that showed ok, and observers on the ground that said it looked down, but you never know if it is locked. I had to fly that way for a number of hours and landings before getting it back to the shop where they found that the hydrauiic powered gear worked fine, and the fault was just the wiring to the lights.
I had an electrical failure in a Mooney and had to crank the gear down.
To try my best to avoid it, I try to fly a full pattern, not just straight in, and I use the checklist twice , especially the last thing I look at when on short final, next to airspeed.
I emphasize "gear down" on my landing checklist first, not all the other "nice to have" items that are not vital on every landing.
Most of all, I try to go slow, be calm and deliberate, and not get rattled like if the dumkoff in the tower is trying to distract you with the usual blabber.
And if something unusual happens, like yesterday when I was about the land and found a disabled plane blocking the runway, and had to divert to Longmont, I try to be very calm and methodical in lowering the gear there.
I know of a case where a pilot new to type was taking off in a Spitfire Mk XVIII , and got the nose too low on takeoff. He never even knew that he clipped a few inches off the prop tips and flew it around the pattern to a landing.

[pittsdriver3]

I also almost did it in my SNJ. The tower told me to go around as I turned final and I had just retracted the gear but not the flaps and then he cleared me to land. I was wondering what the hell that horn was when I pulled the throttle back. I always do a final gear check on short final and caught it there. Bill the gear on a Nanchang has a LOT of drag. Be very hard not to notice it was not down. Don

[Bill Greenwood]

Don, that is exactly the situation where a pilot need to slow down, and be very calm and methodical. That is when something unusual happens that is out of the ordinary which you didn't expect; such as the tower telling you to go around and then changing his mind. In that case the best thing is to complete the go around and then when back on downwind do the full landing checklist over and make sure to lower the gear.
Remember the tower guy is probably not a pilot and doesn't understand what you are doing or even care if he does know. By the way, when I have to do a go around, I do it like a takeoff. I raise the gear, then the flaps and go out and reenter the pattern. Many people teach and prefer to leave the gear down on a late go around, but what you are doing then is conditioning yourself to fly that landing without lowering the gear since it was already down. Not good in my opinion.

I forgot something on a landing Sat. I switch to the fullest tank when I begin my descent from cruise altitude, I don't wait till I am near the ground and busy with other things. So I was coming over the mountains at 13,500 and going into Boulder at 5300. I was coming through 10,000 feet and made a radio position call and find out the runway is just fouled do to a disabled plane. I diverted to Longmont 10 miles north and was careful to put the gear down and recheck it, but after landing I found I was still on the least full fuel tank with perhaps 15 gal left. Another reason not to ever fly with less than an adequate fuel reserve, and how you can make a mistake when something unexpected occurs. And don't let the controller take over how you fly your plane.

[Bob Dingley]

I've had my share of landing gear malfunctions over the years. I carried a spare bulb in my flight bag for awhile for the landing gear indicator lights. One day, R main didn't light and I couldn't find my spare bulb. I was able to swap R main with the L main bulb and it lit. Landed with 3 green and 1 red unlock lights on and the gear held. Since then, I've always made sure that the bulbs were not frozen in the sockets and I could unscrew them to swap them around. Had to use the blow down bottle once. Seems like a simple operation, however Vlo is reduced quite a bit and you only have one shot at it. Don't screw it up by going too fast. I've noticed that there are much fewer errors with two pilots up front and they have a proffesional attitude.You cannot believe the number of excuses for gear incidents that sound so reasonable.


I hope the owner tears down that engine before further service. I'm sure he will. I used to fly with the Guard. One of my friends got off his civilian job one midnight and headed for the hangar. They had left a plane outside, fueled for him. It was the same U-1A DH Otter that another pilot had previously had a prop srike on T.O. Shucks the U-1A does every thing nose low, including climb. All 3 prop tips were bent and there were a row of nicks down the centerline. They changed the prop but not the engine. The U-!A has a P&W R-1340. About an hour or so after TO, about 0200 my friend was solo, with no moon over the White Mountains in NH when the P&W threw a rod. Less than 25 hrs since the prop strike. Al had a chute, as required by regs. He was wearing only a harness, and all the chest packs were on a rack near the aft cabin door. About 12-15 feet behind him. He mayday'ed and someone at Manchester heard him and turned all the lights on. He was suprised to find himself almost overhead and landed OK.


Bob