Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Rino on May 26, 2012, 11:43:03 PM

Title: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Rino on May 26, 2012, 11:43:03 PM
     Diamond Lil had a little mishap at Charlotte while visiting the Carolinas Aviation Museum.  Fortunately no one was hurt, but a B-24
gear failure has got to be expensive  :cry

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/658039/wwii-aircraft-crashes-at-charlotte-airport--none-of-16-on-board-injured (http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/658039/wwii-aircraft-crashes-at-charlotte-airport--none-of-16-on-board-injured)

     I suppose it could have been worse, Fifi is here too.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Tupac on May 27, 2012, 12:16:19 AM
Looks like the mains came down, but the nose gear failed. If the props didn't hit, it could be (relatively) inexpensive and quick to fix. If the props did hit, that plane probably won't fly for a long time. They would have to replace all 4 props, and at the very least tear down and inspect all 4 engines.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: F22RaptorDude on May 27, 2012, 12:24:47 AM
Looks like the mains came down, but the nose gear failed. If the props didn't hit, it could be (relatively) inexpensive and quick to fix. If the props did hit, that plane probably won't fly for a long time. They would have to replace all 4 props, and at the very least tear down and inspect all 4 engines.
Looked like they were to high up to have been damaged, might be wrong, what do I know about planes  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Tupac on May 27, 2012, 12:28:05 AM
Looked like they were to high up to have been damaged, might be wrong, what do I know about planes  :rolleyes:

I'm on my phone, but from the screenshot I can see it looks like you're right.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: CAP1 on May 27, 2012, 10:48:51 PM
ya know? i wanna line up every single news person, in a line, and walk down that line with my hand out slapping every one of the morons.

 it WA NOT a crash.  $^%&%$##$ :bhead
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Seanaldinho on May 27, 2012, 10:55:42 PM
I dont  think they had a prop strike. If they managed to keep the wings level which it appears they did then they wouldnt have hit them. Now had one wing tipped over they may have struck either the #1 or the #4. Hard to tell from the picture though.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: CAP1 on May 27, 2012, 11:08:34 PM
I dont  think they had a prop strike. If they managed to keep the wings level which it appears they did then they wouldnt have hit them. Now had one wing tipped over they may have struck either the #1 or the #4. Hard to tell from the picture though.

 considering that it was only a nose gear failure, on a tricycle geared plane, and up until it came time to let the nose settle on the ground, it was a normal landing.....so it would stand to reason that they kept her level.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Seanaldinho on May 27, 2012, 11:10:28 PM
considering that it was only a nose gear failure, on a tricycle geared plane, and up until it came time to let the nose settle on the ground, it was a normal landing.....so it would stand to reason that they kept her level.

That was my thought process but wierder things have happened.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: 1sum41 on May 28, 2012, 02:34:09 AM
This happened in Georgetown (KGTU) last week. nose gear wouldn't come down.
(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/1sum41/IMG953519.jpg)
 :salute
(not me in the picture)
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Tupac on May 28, 2012, 02:40:01 AM
This happened in Georgetown (KGTU) last week. nose gear wouldn't come down.
(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/1sum41/IMG953519.jpg)
 :salute
(not me in the picture)

I have thought for awhile now it is the destiny of all RG Cessna singles to go out in a glorious gear-up landing.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: 1sum41 on May 28, 2012, 02:49:46 AM
I have thought for awhile now it is the destiny of all RG Cessna singles to go out in a glorious gear-up landing.
just one of those gear doors is 4500$ its crazy man.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Tupac on May 28, 2012, 03:01:49 AM
Looks like the prop isn't bent, which means he shut it down in flight. Poor choice IMO, always leave yourself an out.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: eagl on May 28, 2012, 07:55:01 AM
Looks like the prop isn't bent, which means he shut it down in flight. Poor choice IMO, always leave yourself an out.

Meh...  I'll have to quibble with this application of that particular rule of thumb.  If the landing is assured, shutting down the motor may not add much risk while offering a complete save on the motor and prop if the prop stops horizontally.  Shutting the motor off if a prop strike is imminent is standard procedure in the T-6, even though the prop may keep freewheeling.  It also reduces the chance of parts coming off and doing more damage, or additional structural damage occurring from the torque on the motor mount.

Still, the key there is "landing assured".  My personal gameplan for that sort of thing is to set up for landing on a long runway and set up for a slightly fast final with a conservatively long aimpoint, and shut down the motor on short final.  That should give the motor plenty of time to spin down as slow as it's going to go, while giving me the ability to shift my aimpoint if the prop doesn't feather for some reason and I start slowing down faster than expected.  If it feathers, then I can touch down anywhere on the runway as long as I have about 1000 ft remaining to skid to a stop.

Also, in a civilian application I might even elect for a motor running bounce and go to see if I can get the nosegear to drop, depending on the mechanical design of the system.  Some planes are built so the landing gear can lock down from gravity and airflow assist alone, if you can just get them to unlock.  So a good thumping touch and go might do the trick :)  Especially if I happened to own the aircraft.  If it's someone else's plane, I'll comply with the flight manual and let the insurance company pay out, unless the owner instructs me to do something differently in front of witnesses  :uhoh
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Rino on May 28, 2012, 09:18:48 AM
     One of the more interesting "gear up" landings I saw was when a C-177RG actually lost his nosewheel just before touchdown.
That had to be a bad feeling for the pilot.  Gear showing down and locked, then the nose starts dropping further than it should,

     He shaved the strut down about 6 inches and they had to stuff a dolly under it to tow it back to the ramp.  Oh yeah, they found the
wheel next to the runway.  It turns out that only one locknut held the wheel onto the strut, and somehow it failed/worked loose.

     For some reason KMMU was a gear failure mecca for a few years.  I must have seen 12-15 of them.  The most spectacular was a
Beechjet that had a crew induced gear up landing.  They powered up and took off again, then deployed the gear and landed.  That was
bad enough, but they didn't tell anyone at the airport or the FAA.  They got bagged after an operations vehicle spotted the remains of the
antenna and vent tubes on the runway.  The FAA found out when the mechanic asked for a ferry permit to fly the bird back to Detroit and
couldn't answer when they asked why. :eek:
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: colmbo on May 28, 2012, 10:45:29 AM
They would have to replace all 4 props, and at the very least tear down and inspect all 4 engines.

If you want an exercise in futility find the FAR that says the engine has to be torn down after a prop strike (Part 91 operation).

We had a prop strike on the B-17 after it ran over a runway/taxiway sign -- you know the big black and yellow ones.  We checked the crank for misalignment and showed the FAA it was in specs --- good to go.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: colmbo on May 28, 2012, 10:49:21 AM
Probably the biggest concern from the Diamond Lil thing is going to be damage to the fuselage.  Liberators are kind of weak in that area, having the nose fold under on a gear up landing was a concern.
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: Babalonian on May 29, 2012, 02:31:24 PM
Any that you can walk away from....  nevermind afterwards hopscotch arm-in-arm with everyone that was onboard to the nearest bar.... It looks more salvagable than maybe any other recent (or otherwise) non-flightworthy B-24, so I have little doubt it won't eventualy get back in the air.

Probably the biggest concern from the Diamond Lil thing is going to be damage to the fuselage.  Liberators are kind of weak in that area, having the nose fold under on a gear up landing was a concern.

That's what I'm thinking, won't be easy, all that aluminum, and probabley they need to strip everything down to the frame forward of the wing and below the pit.

IF the engines and props are OK (which either one on all four would be an additional timely setback), and after some long nights of sheet metal and riveting work, she should fly again within a year I think (pending manpower and resources...).

The single (and aparent) worst thing about this, to me, is that it (I think) happened not at its home field, so it's gonna take some luck/money that they probabley don't have to make an already difficult/costly task easier.  Even if you broke it into two stages - repair to flyworthy/ferryable and then fly it home for completion - it's gonna cost a prettier dime than had it happened on their own runway and infront of their own hangar.


On the plus side, anyone living nearby that was considering a career in A&P or restoration and who loves B24s just got a golden opportunity to get hands on (and maybe accumulate some hours).  :aok


just one of those gear doors is 4500$ its crazy man.

eep.


Edit2: Outa curosity, what would the cost incurred be on an average 1-hour flight (with the increased gas consumption) and the pieces of I-beam/uni-strut you'd need to make it into a fixed-gear? :devil
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: mbailey on May 29, 2012, 05:15:13 PM
I was gonna see that sexy bird this weekend at the Reading Airshow  :cry

Thank god everyones ok....and the beautiful lass will be back in the air
Title: Re: Not a great start to summer
Post by: flight17 on May 31, 2012, 10:43:10 PM
If you want an exercise in futility find the FAR that says the engine has to be torn down after a prop strike (Part 91 operation).

We had a prop strike on the B-17 after it ran over a runway/taxiway sign -- you know the big black and yellow ones.  We checked the crank for misalignment and showed the FAA it was in specs --- good to go.
lol, I believe it was you I talked to many moons ago about the Collings foundation in game, if not, then just ignore it... But the nine-O-nine also had 4 prop strikes when it ran off the end of our runway and went down the embankment, shearing off both mains, one or two engines and the ball turret iirc back in 87.

Ive seen two diamond da-20s (fixed gear mind you) scratch an itch it had on the nose with the ground. The first time, an inital solo student lost directional control on her first solo lap and ran of the runway causing the nose gear to collapse. And then two weeks later, the same company had another plane lose its nose wheel from the caster down on the runway as it landed and then it turned off the runway, it snagged a crack causing it to collapse another nose gear.