I was prompted by a photo of the P51 which made a successful forced landing in a field with standing crops near Duxford last weekend to ask myself whether it’s better to leave the gear up for an off-airport forced landing.
The pilot’s handbook (not the flight manual) for my SF260 suggests landing with the gear down as it helps dissipate energy.
Obviously you would ignore that advice if ditching on water, but what about a landing in a field of standing crop, if that’s the only option, especially at this time of the year before it is harvested? I once tried to walk through a field of rape and found it impossible; the crop is so thick it would have more braking effect on an aircraft than the arrester wire on an aircraft carrier. The other trap would be a freshly ploughed field, especially in winter when the earth is wet.
What I wouldn’t want is to end up inverted, trying to open the canopy listening to the sizzle of fuel dripping onto a hot exhaust, alone in the middle of a farmer’s field!
Obviously I am talking about a nose wheel aircraft, in a retractable tailwheel type it would definitely be wheels up unless I was landing on a gold course fairway.
Has anyone here a particular view?
I can recommend the book ‘Engine Out survival Tactics’ written by Nate Jaros, a USAF F16 pilot and Bonanza owner. Available on Kindle and also hard copy now.
It covers these questions and a lot more; F16 pilots are required to do simulated flame-outs every 90 days to remain current. He compares the military way and the civilian way and takes the best of each.
As a matter of fact, I had just completed the book when I took my SEP class rating renewal last April. As a surprise the examiner wanted to see an SFL in the Bonanza. My last practice dated from 1969 or so. It worked, I made a smooth landing, power off, on the proper piece of runway from 3000 ft overhead.
My approach would be: if this is a surface I can land on and take off from, gear down. Otherwise, gear up.
So: tall crops → gear up, bog → gear up.
Another point to remember, if you have gear trouble and have a choice between hard runway and grass, take the hard runway. There will be damage but the aircraft will slide and not dig itself in causing even greater damage. This wisdom comes from the warbird community.
dirkdj wrote:
see an SFL in the Bonanza. My last practice dated from 1969 or so. It worked, I made a smooth landing, power off, on the proper piece of runway from 3000 ft overhead.
How did you do it – when did you throw down the gear, when the flaps, and what was your sink rate ? Can you recall them ? Was it the classic “4 turns” until runway, or one wide curve ?
What I learned in the book was the 4 wire (clean config, gear up, low RPM) becoming an 8-wire when gear and flaps are down. I loose 500 ft on each 180 degree turn, and want to be at 1000 ft on final, on 8-wire (8°). Anyone flying SEP should read this book. I used to fly gliders a long time ago, still a bit of that DNA hanging around I guess.
If I would practice a bit, with the information found in the book, I would feel confident again after a few tries. I started at 3000 ft overhead. Pulling the prop fully back gives a major boost in glide range.
In my Falco I would nearly always elect gear up as the wooden belly is surprisingly good at withstanding the impact whereas the wooden spar subjected to the leverage of abused undercarriage wouldn’t fare so well. There’s a well documented event where a Falco landed on grass gear up and was back in the air a few months later.
The flight manual for the Alpi Pioneer 300 must have copied the advice of Falco owners. Gear up and flaps up causes the least damage they say. If it ever happens it can go back to the factory and they can eat their words. Touch wood.
WilliamF wrote:
…causes the least damage…
That would be my very last concern when having to do a forced landing. To hell with the aeroplane, after all the bloody thing got you into that situation in the first place…
“The least risk of serious injury” is what I would be aiming for. Unless the POH states otherwise, using the extended gear to dissipate energy by being ripped to pieces will most proably be in favor of the occupants. So: POH first, common sense next, minimum damage to the aircraft last.
Fully agree – get out safely.
What may help psychologically (did help me) :
Once you are on the track to a forced landing, it is not your plane any more…
Ownership just changed to the insurance company 
