Just to introduce a bit of levity into what is going to be a long "why didn't he do this or that" from people who have mostly never been near an aeroplane but think that they know everything.
When I got near my first Argosy in 1962 I can vividly remember thinking during the external walkaround that if I had ever had to put it on the ground with the gear up then there was a lot of fuselage underneath me to be ground away before the family jewels were in peril.
When I got near my first Belfast in 1972, I came to the immediate conclusion that the future of my family was in even better shape.
How was I to know that Antonov had designed an even better solution?
The crew did well - very well.