rockwell commander wheels up landing at FAPE

[Chase]

based at PE airport, i heard over the radio that a rockwell commander's wheels wouldnt come out. it did a emergency landing on runway 35. no injuries. it was a solo student pilot busy with his commercial training. damage to the aircraft wasnt to bad at all.

[cherokee160]

yes i heard of the incident, apparently the plane belonged to Progress Flight Academy. ZS- JRY. well done to the pilot steve for bringing her in saftely.http://www.flightacademy.co.za/images/jry.jpg

[Gunship]

Well done to Pilot Steve :ok:

Now I pressume Rwy 35 is tar with "minimal damage" .. mhhh the theory thickens on grass vs tar :E

[cherokee160]

thats correct, runway 35 is a tar runway. the aircraft stopped in a very short distance. grass runways damage the plane more than the tar runways do, believe it or not.

ive seen the same plane crash on progresses grass runway, i was there the day it happened. it did some serious damage to the aircraft. it was the same problem, gear didnt come out so they planted it on the grass runway. they've evidently learnt from there mistakes and this time they diverted to PE and put it down on tar runway instead. the damage to the aircraft this time round is much less this time round. :E

[Rhodie]

Iv'e got the AC114 on my licence - but not current...

Plumbing the cobwebs in the mind's filing cabinet to remember the emergency gear procedure.. is it a gravity or wind down system...??

Not that it'll help when the gear doors stick.. :{

Aside - I saw a C210 (old one, before the gear door mod) wheels up on a surfaced runway before. Abolutely excellent job by the PIC, with his family on board - he kept directional control right to the stop, virtually on the centreline, and they all walked out under the wings..

R

[B Sousa]

One of my favorite aircraft. Rockwell made some nice ones. Best one I flew was the OV-10D.
The commander should have been a big seller, but as I understand it came out a bit underpowered. To bad as its still a sweeet looking aircraft.
Cherokee 160 says grass hurts aircraft more than tar?? I find that a hard one to take. How about some thoughts behind that statement?? Rocks?? cartwheeling??
Tar with Foam sounds OK..

[Herc130]

Bert,

Didn't know you flew Bronco's. The US wanted to give us some for border patrol and drug interdiction, however, some dingbat in government said we didn't need it.:{

Sweet aircraft and it had Allisons on boards (Only 2 though;) )

[Speedbird48]

Sorry,

They had Garrett's in the OV-10 Bronco. Allison's would be a bit pushed to drag that thing around.

A great machine for the Marines but not flassy enough for the Air Force. A lot were used in Viet Nam and the Bureau of Land Management has some for a while until the spares ran out.