PA-28 loses wheel - successful forced landing

[Phil Perry]

Well you won't scrape the prop tips with a Lake so you can go round. what do you call a gear down in water. A plunk and dunk? Nev

Got to be honest Nev, it's late ( here in the hangar,. . . ) and I don't have an "Australianism" for a water arrival with the gear down. . . . . yours sounds like a good one !

 

The infamous Dave Squirrell told me a story one night at the pub, about him fishing on Lake Eildon whilst sitting on the wing of a Lake Bucc, the aircraft had been through some maintenance recently, and he said that after a while, his feet seemed to be in the water, when they shouldn't have been. He looked into the cockpit and said Oh ****. we're bloody sinking.

 

His unidentified mate, who had been fishing from the other wing, jumped off the aircraft and struck out for the shore, ( trying to keep it accutrate. . . he didn't say how far it was )

 

He said that he jumped back into the cockpit and fired up the engine. m He then taxied it back toward the shore. His story continues in that he lowered the ground landing gear and aimed towards a concrete boat ramp. He reckoned that by the time he reached the ramp, he had a bow wave which was just below his neck.

 

He said that he hit the ramp at around 10 - 15 Mph, and then bumped into a parked car because the wheel brakes were wet. Knowing Dave quite well, ( as some of you do also ) I don't know how much of this tale is accurate, and how much is romancing. He DID say that the only repercussions were the damage to the car, as the bloke's insurers did not believe his report of. . . . . "Dear sir, I was having a burger, when an aeroplane came out of a lake and hit my car. . . . . .

 

I'll leave that one to you blokes . . . . .( cracking yarn though ?? ) [ And before you tecchies ask about submerged cockpit electrics. . . . . . Remember this is a hangar yarn recounted in a PUB ! ]

 

Oh and by the way NEV, when ( if - maybe ) you ever fly a Bucc., or a similar High thrustline pusher, when you apply full power suddenly, the bloody thing tries to nosedive because of the high thrust line creating quite a noticeable pitch - down moment. . ., so you have to be ready for that, and compensate immediately. . . your mentor will mention it no doubt ( ! ) If you already HAVE a seaplane rating on high thrustline Pusher types, please forgive the comment.

 

Phil

 

 

[facthunter]

And I would also expect that the required back stick would tend to put the plane further on the runway due to downforce on the tailfeathers. I like the idea of seaplanes ( sometimes) I grew up opposite Rathmines, which was a flying boat base during and after WW2. Consolidated Catalina base.

 

A company I worked for had one in PNG which hit something in Moresby and sank. (Probably a Croc.) Think they gave it to the tech college. A few of my mates flew the Ansett rose bay to Lord Howe service with Sandringhams? Think they get a bit hard to handle when the engines are stopped. Nev

 

 

[Phil Perry]

That's interesting Nev,. . . . . I always wanted a flight in a Sunderland Flying boat, ever since I built the Airfix model. . . . ( ! ) I had fun a ride in a Catalina which was owned by a bunch of South African blokes who used to fly into Lae ( PNG ) occasionally, I think they were involved with some sort of university funded underwater photography project. as it was full of diving gear and U/W cameras ( pretty quick me. . . .) this thing had a stupendous range, I forget how many hours they reckoned it could stay in the air, but it was rather a lot !! Good job it had a galley for the omelettes ( or whatever it is that sed effrikans eat ) the main prob was that they kept speaking in Afrikaaner, which is a bit like Dutch ( ! ) This was back in the apartheid days, when the Blix were second class citizens. and Nelson Mandela was still banged up on Robin Island. . . . . . . .

 

Anyway, ( losing the plot again phil. . .) The Lake has a "Stepped" sort of fuselage design as do a lot of seaplanes, as opposed to landplanes with floatythingies hanging off the bottom. . . . Hence the saying " Getting it up on the step. . . " ) as, of course floats do also, to progressively reduce, as waterspeed increases, and aerodynamic lift begins to occur. . . the tendency for the surface tension of the water surface to retard aviation. This is why I didn't do much damage to the aaaarssseee end of the structure, just the main keel bottom and one of the outrigger floats. . . . ( but the repair cost was several weeks wages.)

 

Phil