PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Gear Warning Horns -How loud is yours
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Old 20th Apr 2002, 01:20
  #16 (permalink)  
I Fly
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Camden, NSW, Australia
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As an Instructor I get very frustrated. Pilots are their own worst enemy.
Piper singles used to have an automatic gear extension system.
When speed reduces below a certain speed power combination the gear will extend and when it increases above a certain setting it will retract. One would think "a perfect backup system if the pilot forgets or is distracted"
Guess what: Some pilots, in the States I believe, flew the thing with the gear selector in the up position and let the machinery do the thinking and work.
Guess what: Sometimes the machinery fails.
Guess what: The manufacturer and their Authority decide, in their wisdom, that the best way to fix the problem is to direct owners to remove or disable the automatic.
Makes perfect sense. Some engines do fail sometimes - so lets remove them, because we can't teach the drivers to use them properly.
Back to the topic.
Many years ago there was a gear up landing on a secondary aerodrome. The tower was calling the pilot to go around, but the pilot didn't. Afterwards he was asked why he did not follow the Tower's instructions. He said that he could hear the Tower talking to him but he could not understand what he was saying "because something was making a very loud racket". I suppose that gear worning was TO LOUD.
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