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Post by Radialicious on Jun 28, 2007 20:21:10 GMT 12
I was at Woodbourne when the Argosy had its undercarriage collapse. It was very unspectacular. It had trouble with one of its main gear legs and after a number of attempts and techniques for getting it down, it never quite locked. IIRC the undercarriage actuators only retracted the gear. Extension was achieved by gravity. On this aircraft, the piston in the actuator had been starting to 'pick up' in the cylinder to the point where internal friction overcame the weight of the MLG. The further the gear extended, the more force was needed to keep it falling. It was almost down and locked but not quite. The aircraft touched down on RWY 25 and towards the end of the rollout, the LH MLG collapsed. She skidded along the ground and left the runway onto the grass. The #1 prop contacted the ground and the left wingtip and aileron took a bit of a beating. The lower rear fuselage also suffered. She never flew again.
I have seen a number of undercarriage related accidents at Woodbourne in my time.
The Argosy,
Piper Seneca with no nose wheel,
Beech Duchess with no gear at all (in the dark very impressive),
Spitfire Mk XVI groundloop and collapse,
GAF Nomad with no gear landed on its pontoons on a wetted grass runway.
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Post by lumpy on Jun 29, 2007 22:27:25 GMT 12
I was only a boy , but I was actually at Woodbourne when the Bristol had its gear failure . I was helping dry and re-pack tents after a Dip Flat course . There was of course no warning , untill the crash siren went off , since one hardly expects " fixed landing gear " to break . To be honest , I think most believed it was a drill , and it was only as I was heading home that I saw the Bristol lying on the runway .By all accounts another very un-specatular ( maybe a bit more un-expected ) landing problem . ( If my memory serves me correctly , I dont think it ever flew again either ? )
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 12, 2007 22:24:06 GMT 12
I see in the latest Pacific Wings that the editor, Rob Neil, makes some valid comments about the number of doctors and other 'experts' who came out of the woodwork after this incident and said that the plane should have never diverted to Blenheim because if things had gone wrong the local hospital couldn't have coped with the disaster.  |
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 13, 2007 10:29:01 GMT 12
That view was expressed in a lot of papers after the incident. It was suggested that Air New Zealand (Eagle Air) had put profit before safety (the balance of closing Wellington Airport versus the medical facilities available to those on board the Beech).
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Post by lumpy on Jul 13, 2007 10:49:58 GMT 12
Im not saying that the comments arent valid , but we do have a very windy , steep , SH1 ( welds pass ) passing through the district . Given that a maxi taxi could hold the same number of people as on the beach - what would happen if a full size bus went over ? I believe emergency services will allways be streched in such an unexpected situation ( probabally even in Wellington )
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Post by fletcherfu24 on Jul 13, 2007 19:52:02 GMT 12
A wheels up landing is fairly 'routine',reallistically the passengers were in more danger when they drove to the airport.
As lumpy says a bus driving through town with dodgy brakes never warrants a full scale emergency turn out.
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Post by kiwi on Jul 14, 2007 8:00:44 GMT 12
A fairly weak analogy , a bus never reaches the speed or altitude of an aircraft .
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Post by Bruce on Jul 14, 2007 8:16:16 GMT 12
when it stops suddenly on hitting the ground it would be the same speed and altitude....  |
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Post by fletcherfu24 on Jul 14, 2007 8:29:03 GMT 12
More people killed and injured in bus accidents than wheels up landings every year here.Name the last time anyone was even hurt(soiled pants are not an injury) in a wheels up landing in NZ?.
Its just a wheels up landing is more spectactular TV footage.
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Post by lumpy on Jul 16, 2007 17:57:57 GMT 12
I didnt think the analogy with a bus was too bad - only time the passengers were in any real danger was when the plane was at the same altitude as a bus ( ie touching the ground ) - and probabally not not going tooo much faster either :-) . If you think im exagerating the chances of a major crash on the bit of road I spoke of , then check ont the front page of tonights paper ( Marlbrouuh Express ) . Mostly trucks admitedly , but still a real danger
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Post by 30sqnatc on Jul 16, 2007 19:14:02 GMT 12
Yeah but you don't normally see buses or trucks doing that speed without wheels (or brakes) ;D
Paul
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Post by lumpy on Jul 16, 2007 19:28:37 GMT 12
somewhere on this forum is a link to photos of the beach landing gear . Not only were the wheels in contact with the ground , but the brakes still work - yes , even retracted ! ( a very reliable source tells me the only problem is that the " anti lock " doesnt work - which seems to be confirmed by the picture of the blown tyre ) . Cant help but be impressed by that ! No reverse thrust once the prop blades break off though ! :-)
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Post by lumpy on Sept 5, 2007 21:31:22 GMT 12
According to the local paper , shes back in the air on a scheduled route this sunday , they wont say which one , but its only 4 days away , so one would imagine extensive " flight " testing has already been done .The bill ? $600,000
( hey Dave , page 3 of lasts nights paper has a pic of 2 guys with a wine press . The guy on the right is John Walsh - owner of " Woodbourne farm " )
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 15, 2007 16:18:03 GMT 12
Thanks Lumpy.
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andyc
Flying Officer
Posts: 57
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Post by andyc on Sept 28, 2007 3:48:03 GMT 12
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Post by flyjoe180 on Sept 28, 2007 17:14:32 GMT 12
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