Yes I did it and it was a total non event in
terms of the actual landing.
I was on track to do an absolute greaser of a
landing, slight X wind from the left, nicely aligned with the centre
line and I heard this bang/bang/bang noise. I had enough time to reflect
"flat tire" and then I was on the ground. I realised what had happened
and had time to kill mags, master switch and fuel before we stopped. The
aircraft had drifted to right of centre line and the nose was pointing about
20degrees to the right. You could see where the propellor tip had
gouged the runway, right on the centre line. I estimate the stopping
distance as 400' from the first asphalt divot the propellor made.
I was doing my last ride for a charity air
display day and the fire trucks were on the field as part of their
display. They were there very quickly and I had to plead with them not
to cover everything in foam!!
Damage was confined to the belly pan, bottom of
the pitot head, due to the left wing being down and into wind, bottom
cowl only required some body filler and repaint. The bottom of the
rudder was scrubbed through for about 2" long. No big deal
there.
Engine tear down and a new propellor were the
heart breakers. No insurance.
My passenger did not seem to initially realise
what had happened.
Apart from the financial aspect it was a non
event. However I hate to think what the result would have been if it had
been a rough landing.
Ian B. Crowe
LNC 2
C-FKRO