X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Sender: To: lml@lancaironline.net Date: Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:36:20 -0400 Message-ID: X-Original-Return-Path: Received: from imr-ma01.mx.aol.com ([64.12.206.39] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 5.2.14) with ESMTP id 3743831 for lml@lancaironline.net; Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:07:44 -0400 Received-SPF: pass receiver=logan.com; client-ip=64.12.206.39; envelope-from=BJeff10338@aol.com Received: from imo-da03.mx.aol.com (imo-da03.mx.aol.com [205.188.169.201]) by imr-ma01.mx.aol.com (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id n63F70ke017735 for ; Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:07:00 -0400 Received: from BJeff10338@aol.com by imo-da03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v40_r1.5.) id q.bce.4c5592d9 (32915) for ; Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:06:56 -0400 (EDT) From: BJeff10338@aol.com X-Original-Message-ID: X-Original-Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:06:56 EDT Subject: Evolution incident X-Original-To: lml@lancaironline.net MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="-----------------------------1246633616" X-Mailer: 9.0 Security Edition for Windows sub 5377 X-Spam-Flag:NO -------------------------------1246633616 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en OK, it=E2=80=99s time to dispel all the rumors and conjecture. I returned= this morning from the Evolution demo tour and now have time to sit down and she= d some light on what happened. I told myself that there were two things I= would never do in my aviation career; run out of gas and land gear up. = I=E2=80=99ve flown for 52 years, have over 26,000 hours, flew fighters in the Air Force= until I retired, part 135 in the Hawaiian Islands, deep desert operations= in Saudi Arabia for ARAMCO, part 121 with American Airlines (serving as check= airman on the B-757/767), fractional ownership in the Lear 60 for Bombardier, taught in war bird jets and Lancair aircraft, raced at the Na= tional Championship Air Races and yes , spent over 7 years as a guest of Uncle= HO. I say this not to impress you but to make the point that this can happen to= the most experienced pilot. The incident took place at Winder, GA (KWDR)= . I was doing a demo in the Evolution with a client flying the aircraft fro= m the left seat. We had done the airwork demonstration and after demonstrating a pattern I gave the Evolution to the customer. On downwin= d, an aircraft reported a three mile straight-in. In fact, he was around five= miles out. I told the customer to hold the flaps and gear until we had a visual= on the straight-in. At around three miles we had the traffic and turned base, putting some flaps down. On final, my attention was on the traffic= and the customers airspeed and glide path control. As we flared for the landing, the prop began to strike the runway. I looked up and saw that th= e gear switch was still in the UP position. I immediately put the gear switch= down. The aircraft slid to a stop on the runway. When I got out, I saw= that the main gear had partially extended, holding the fuselage off the runway= . The nose gear had partially extended and the tire rotated 90 degrees resting below the nose gear doors protecting the nose cowl. The step on= the left side was ground down and the flap hinges on the right side were ground a= little. The bottom of the rudder was slightly scraped. The prop, of course, was trashed. I cannot put to words the terrible thoughts and= feelings that I experienced with the realization of what had just happened. I hop= e none of you have to experience this. The Garmin 900X has no gear warnin= g system (Lancair is installing an independent system). There were three certified pilots on board at the time. One was a corporate pilot in the= rear seat observing the demonstration flight. It still comes down to the fact= that I was PIC and was responsible. We lifted the Evolution with bridles= , put the gear down and towed it to Roman Air on the field. This happened= on Monday. By Saturday, I test flew the aircraft and we continued on with= the tour. The nose gear and airframe parts were replaced and our on-board mechanic performed a composite repair on the rudder. Lancair responded= immediately with parts support and the gear case and hot section were sen= t to a repair facility for teardown and inspection. There was no damage to it= but the bearing and prop governor were mandatory replacements. Our mechanic= and demonstration team worked their butts off and the Evolution was airworthy= in five days. It=E2=80=99s a great aircraft and this was a testimony to= it=E2=80=99s robustness. We continued the tour to Austin, Atlanta, Spruce Creek, Raleigh-Durham, Norfolk and then home. We completed 15 demonstration rid= es during the tour and covered over 6000 miles flying at altitudes up to FL 270 and= True airspeeds over 300. Most of our takeoffs were at or near max gross= take-off weight (4300 lbs) with density altitudes up to 7000=E2=80=99. = Every customer was impressed with the aircraft and the most common response was =E2=80= =9CWOW=E2=80=9D. The incident (FAA classified it as an incident after inspecting the aircraft), as most are, was due to a series of events. I broke my normal= configuration routine, was distracted by other factors and did not comple= te the checklist. The Evolution is a thorobred and should receive the response= from the customers that it deserves. So, keep your heads out, be aware when= routines are broken and use that checklist. Respectfully, Bob Jeffrey **************It's raining cats and dogs -- Come to PawNation, a place where pets rule! (http://www.pawnation.com/?ncid=3Demlcntnew00000008) -------------------------------1246633616 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en
OK, it=E2=80=99s time to dispel all the rumors and conjecture. = I returned this morning from the Evolution demo tour and now have time to sit down an= d shed some light on what happened.  I told myself that there were two thing= s I would never do in my aviation career; run out of gas and land gear up.&nbs= p; I=E2=80=99ve flown for 52 years, have over 26,000 hours, flew fighters in= the Air Force until I retired, part 135 in the Hawaiian Islands, deep desert operations= in Saudi Arabia for ARAMCO, part 121 with American Airlines (serving as check= airman on the B-757/767), fractional ownership in the Lear 60 for Bombardi= er, taught in war bird jets and Lancair aircraft, raced at the National Champi= onship Air Races and yes , spent over 7 years as a guest of Uncle HO.  I say= this not to impress you but to make the point that this can happen to the most= experienced pilot.  The incident took place at Winder, GA (KWDR).&nbs= p; I was doing a demo in the Evolution with a client flying the aircraft from= the left seat.  We had done the airwork demonstration and after demonstra= ting a pattern I gave the Evolution to the customer.  On downwind, an aircra= ft reported a three mile straight-in.  In fact, he was around five miles= out.  I told the customer to hold the flaps and gear until we had a= visual on the straight-in.  At around three miles we had the traffic and tur= ned base, putting some flaps down.  On final, my attention was on the tra= ffic and the customers airspeed and glide path control.  As we flared for= the landing, the prop began to strike the runway.  I looked up and saw th= at the gear switch was still in the UP position.  I immediately put the gear= switch down.  The aircraft slid to a stop on the runway.  When= I got out, I saw that the main gear had partially extended, holding the fuselage= off the runway.  The nose gear had partially extended and the tire rotate= d 90 degrees resting below the nose gear doors protecting the nose cowl. = The step on the left side was ground down and the flap hinges on the right sid= e were ground a little.  The bottom of the rudder was slightly scraped. = ; The prop, of course, was trashed.    I cannot put to words the= terrible thoughts and feelings that I experienced with the realization of= what had just happened.  I hope none of you have to experience this. =   The Garmin 900X has no gear warning system (Lancair is installing an indep= endent system). There were three certified pilots on board at the time.  One= was a corporate pilot in the rear seat observing the demonstration flight. = It still comes down to the fact that I was PIC and was responsible.  We= lifted the Evolution with bridles, put the gear down and towed it to Roman Air on= the field.  This happened on Monday.  By Saturday, I test flew the= aircraft and we continued on with the tour.  The nose gear and airfra= me parts were replaced and our on-board mechanic performed a composite repair= on the rudder.  Lancair responded immediately with parts support and the= gear case and hot section were sent to a repair facility for teardown and inspection.  There was no damage to it but the bearing and prop gover= nor were mandatory replacements.  Our mechanic and demonstration team wor= ked their butts off and the Evolution was airworthy in five days.  It=E2= =80=99s a great aircraft and this was a testimony to it=E2=80=99s robustness.  We con= tinued the tour to Austin, Atlanta, Spruce Creek, Raleigh-Durham, Norfolk and then home.  We completed 15 demonstration rides during the tour and covere= d over 6000 miles flying at altitudes up to FL 270 and True airspeeds over 300.&n= bsp; Most of our takeoffs were at or near max gross take-off weight (4300 lbs)= with density altitudes up to 7000=E2=80=99.  Every customer was impressed= with the aircraft and the most common response was =E2=80=9CWOW=E2=80=9D. &nbs= p; The incident (FAA classified it as an incident after inspecting the aircraft), as most are,= was due to a series of events.  I broke my normal configuration routine,= was distracted by other factors and did not complete the checklist.  The= Evolution is a thorobred and should receive the response from the customer= s that it deserves.   So, keep your heads out, be aware when routines= are broken and use that checklist.   Respectfully, Bob Jeffrey

It's raining cats and dogs -- Come= to PawNati= on, a place where pets rule!
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