Navajo wheels up.
Thread Starter
Wheels-up on news tonight
Whoever it was puting the Chieften (?) down with the gear up today, that looked like a job well done! Smooth, safe touchdown; minimal, if any, damage to props and engine.
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The last guy I knew that did that now flies for QF!! It happened a few weeks after he didn't set the parking brake on his new car and it ran through his old man's garage.
Thread Starter
Ar yes, but did they KNOW they were not down...
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Navajo wheels up.
Gday fellas,
Just a heads up. Anyone hear about the navajo belonging to a well known skydiving company operating out of pinjarra, having a wheels up landing on Sat.
"Lucky escape
By RYAN EMERY
17jul05
TWO people walked unhurt from a light plane after it made a forced landing without wheels at Jandakot airport late yesterday afternoon.
Pilot Robin O'Neill was flying the twin-engine aircraft from Pinjara, where he had dropped skydivers, when its landing gear developed a fault.
For 40 minutes Mr O'Neill battled to lower the plane's starboard wheel, assisted by his only passenger, Vanessa Manning.
He burnt off the aircraft fuel before landing the plane safely on its belly, with minimal damage.
It was Mr O'Neill's first landing without wheels in 12 years of flying..
"It (the landing) didn't sound pretty – there was a lot of scraping," he said.
Ms Manning said she felt surprisingly calm after the landing. But as she flew over Perth she did briefly think, that it might be the last time she saw the city.
Mr O'Neill's daughter Genna, 13, her mother Jocelyn Nainby, and Genna's friend Ameera Brandis, 13, raced from Hilton to the airport, but the aircraft had landed safely. "
Source: Sunday Times
Anyone got any info on this guy. Heard that this place is one of the better meat bombing joints around???
Gyro
Gyro ... Re your second sentence - we simply are not going there!
Woomera
Just a heads up. Anyone hear about the navajo belonging to a well known skydiving company operating out of pinjarra, having a wheels up landing on Sat.
"Lucky escape
By RYAN EMERY
17jul05
TWO people walked unhurt from a light plane after it made a forced landing without wheels at Jandakot airport late yesterday afternoon.
Pilot Robin O'Neill was flying the twin-engine aircraft from Pinjara, where he had dropped skydivers, when its landing gear developed a fault.
For 40 minutes Mr O'Neill battled to lower the plane's starboard wheel, assisted by his only passenger, Vanessa Manning.
He burnt off the aircraft fuel before landing the plane safely on its belly, with minimal damage.
It was Mr O'Neill's first landing without wheels in 12 years of flying..
"It (the landing) didn't sound pretty – there was a lot of scraping," he said.
Ms Manning said she felt surprisingly calm after the landing. But as she flew over Perth she did briefly think, that it might be the last time she saw the city.
Mr O'Neill's daughter Genna, 13, her mother Jocelyn Nainby, and Genna's friend Ameera Brandis, 13, raced from Hilton to the airport, but the aircraft had landed safely. "
Source: Sunday Times
Anyone got any info on this guy. Heard that this place is one of the better meat bombing joints around???
Gyro
Gyro ... Re your second sentence - we simply are not going there!
Woomera
Last edited by Woomera; 17th Jul 2005 at 11:54.
See the thread in D&G Reporting Points. I saw the footage of this on tonight's news & it was pretty spectacular! Props feathered, parked perfectly & looks like they didn't even touch the ground. Well done that man! 
DF.
DF.
Was it a Navajo with 2 bladed props?
You see a lot of discussion about feathering props during a wheels-up!
If they are two bladed..and you can stop both engines, feather them, and get them horizontal...without losing control of the aeroplane, well and good.
I have been told by engineers if you have three bladed props, you will do less damage to the engine if you leave them windmilling in an un-feathered position.
Obviously if you feather a three-bladed, at least one blade will dig into the ground and either cause damage to the engine or help remove it from the mount.
I only mention this because a lot of people (during bar room discussion) seem to think that feathering them is the be-all end-all. Well it will be if you get it wrong.
So the moral of the story is..
One..Save Yourself!
Two..Save Yourself!
Three..Minimize Aircraft Damage!
PS
Yes I've done it.
You see a lot of discussion about feathering props during a wheels-up!
If they are two bladed..and you can stop both engines, feather them, and get them horizontal...without losing control of the aeroplane, well and good.
I have been told by engineers if you have three bladed props, you will do less damage to the engine if you leave them windmilling in an un-feathered position.
Obviously if you feather a three-bladed, at least one blade will dig into the ground and either cause damage to the engine or help remove it from the mount.
I only mention this because a lot of people (during bar room discussion) seem to think that feathering them is the be-all end-all. Well it will be if you get it wrong.
So the moral of the story is..
One..Save Yourself!
Two..Save Yourself!
Three..Minimize Aircraft Damage!
PS
Yes I've done it.
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Local news showed one blade of one prop with a little worn off the end, visible touch in the clip on touchdown.
????? from an old school who hasn't flown props for 20 years, seem to recal feathering was not the so called best option as the possibility of not getting the props in the correct position.
Could cause the prop to remove the engine, or distract the pilot trying to align them and stuff the landing???
No shot at the pilot of this one, just an honest proceedural question.
Looked good fun actually, and only the usual gravel rash.
????? from an old school who hasn't flown props for 20 years, seem to recal feathering was not the so called best option as the possibility of not getting the props in the correct position.
Could cause the prop to remove the engine, or distract the pilot trying to align them and stuff the landing???
No shot at the pilot of this one, just an honest proceedural question.
Looked good fun actually, and only the usual gravel rash.
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Ah cheers for the link flopter.
Saw this plane up close a couple weeks back. Very nice plane.
Turbocharged with 310hp each side. Very sad to see this happen to such an effiecient machine.
No doubt itll be back down at the drop zone asap with a full load of skydivers.
Wonder how you would get those 2 props feather in such a position to have the greatest dist between ground and closest prop like Rob did??? I mean your mind is going overdrive and you wouldnt have much time after you bring back the mix to fiddle with the props psoition.
I dont think you could of done any better in this situation.
Gyro
Saw this plane up close a couple weeks back. Very nice plane.
Turbocharged with 310hp each side. Very sad to see this happen to such an effiecient machine.
No doubt itll be back down at the drop zone asap with a full load of skydivers.
Wonder how you would get those 2 props feather in such a position to have the greatest dist between ground and closest prop like Rob did??? I mean your mind is going overdrive and you wouldnt have much time after you bring back the mix to fiddle with the props psoition.
I dont think you could of done any better in this situation.
Gyro
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I have seen the Navajo, its in very good condition, minor surface skin damage to the belly and a lost ADF antenna.
The props were vertical when it hit the rwy and the navajo's engines sit quite high, so as a result there is a VERY minor scratch on the props, he probably got away without a bulkstrip but he will need 2 props.
A very good job indeed.
The props were vertical when it hit the rwy and the navajo's engines sit quite high, so as a result there is a VERY minor scratch on the props, he probably got away without a bulkstrip but he will need 2 props.
A very good job indeed.