Emergency Gear Extension

[Richard Lanning]

Recently my gear did not come up. Switch up and nothing. Green light stayed on. Far as I could tell the motor wasn't running.

After leveling off, reattempted to retract the gear and it came right up. Now I had 90 minutes to wonder if it would actually come down. Fortunately, it did with no issue. The plane is in annual now so the gear system will get a good lookover. I suspect one of the pressure switches still thought the plane was on the ground. Hope that is all it is.

Anyway, I was talking to my mechanic about it and he said one of his prior Comanche owners indicated that on an emergency gear down landing you have to hold the lever forward on landing to make sure the gear doesn't collapse due to vibration.

I don't ever recall seeing or hearing anyone discuss that as part of the emergency gear extension procedure. I have the Comanche DVD now and it made no mentionn of this. Once the gear goes into the overlock position I would think you would be fine. I don't like the idea of having to have one hand tied up holding the gear lever forward.

Any thoughts on this?

[Ed Asmus]

I would highly discourage attempting to "hold the lever forward" on a landing when the gear is extended using the emergency method. If the gear is in proper condition, this is unnecessary. If the gear is not in the proper condition and the gear was to actually fold on the landing, having your foot or any other part of your body attempting to support the weight of the airplane by "holding the lever forward" could be hazardous to your health. My guess (and this is truly a guess), one would not be close to having the required leverage to keep the gear from folding by "holding the lever forward" not to mention, that lever is not designed to support that load anyway. Any other comments, because I'm just a Comanche pilot and not an engineer. Be safe out there!

Ed

[N3322G]

Ditto what Ed said.

A bit scary the mechanic would suggest that. I like what Clifton does - even with their decades of Comanche experience, every annual starts checklist in the aircraft and engines running - everything is on the Piper checklist and a table with the Piper Service Manual and Parts Manual are on the table next to the plane after it gets to the hangar. In general if we can't find it in the Service Manual, the POH or Piper publication, we don't do it.

Suggest you go to one of the Comanche courses. http://www.comanchetraining.com/

When it comes to gear stuff. www comanchegear.com can't be beat. We are very lucky Matt has a 400 and the skills to help others.

Good luck to you.

[Richard Lanning]

Just want to clarify, the mechanic did not suggest it. He only repeated to me what a former Comanche pilot customer of his told him. He did not think it was correct but he only fixes them, he does not fly them so really couldn't comment on it from an operational perspective.

I CPP is in my future when one is held in my area. In the interim, its OJT.

[Charles Schefer]

Hi Rich.

Ditto the comments on NOT holding the emergency lever for all the reasons other's have stated. I recently completed the CPPP. Definitely worth doing, not only for the briefing / training itself but also for the interaction and discussion amongst the instructors and owners. There was a LOT of combined knowledge in the room at the CPPP I recently attended (the one at JYO last month) and I think I got the most out of the discussions and conversations.

One related thing that did come up in the CPPP discussion is that in an emergency gear extension situation you should land and taxi as gently as possible. The gear should not collapse if properly rigged and if the downlock springs are bungies are relatively fresh. Having completely rebuilt my gear piece by piece and rigged it I can tell you that is a very important "if". Keep in mind that having the transmission out of the equation means there is a very big important piece NOT helping ensure the gear stays down and in place.

Regarding your specific problem I'd strongly suggest getting a comanche gear expert look at your gear. Matt Kurke is in Naples, FL not far from you. I'd suggest seeking his advice. I'd also say that his gear wiring kits and microswitches are a very worthwhile investment. So is (IMHO) any investment in properly maintaing the landing gear system.

- Charles

[Kristin Winter]

The key to not having the landing gear collapse after an emergency extension is primarily the nose gear. If the nose gear breaks lock, it will pull the over gear up. If the nose springs are rusted or you don't know when they were last replaced, replace them. These are the key.

Beyond that, the key is to have someone inspect the system who really knows the system.

[William Hughes]

This might have been a garbled version of keeping one hand on the lever as the gear goes down. You can feel a couple of bumps at the end as the linkages go over centre and the safety catch under the jack screw engages. The idea is that you see the handle up, see the light on, and feel the engagement. You get to know what normal feels and looks like.

If you have a gear down engagement that is incomplete or a light that goes out, you now have a bit more information to help make a decision.

If you get a chance during the annual gear swing do an emergency release. I managed that last week and it was very reassuring to release the catch and swing the gear by hand. It was also sobering how much force is required to flip that little red catch. I also discovered that my aircraft had the wrong placard riveted to the floor that described the procedure!

[Kristin Winter]

If it is really hard to release the red lever on the transmission, then the gear is not properly rigged. Likely the up limit switch is activating too late, putting excessive force on the jack screw.

[N3322G]

I require that I do the emergency gear release every annual - just did it last week. Piece of cake. As a nearly Medicare female I don't have much hand strength relative to sweet Medicare husband and that red lever moves w/o difficulty - always has for me so I second Kristin's suggestion.