Nanchang CJ-6A gear-up landing at Oliver Airport BC [video]

[FlySigi]

Nanchang CJ-6A (C-FTQW) landed with the gear-up during the Western Warbirds Association (WWA) meeting at the Oliver Airport (CAU3) in BC Canada [September 07, 2013].

[Doc]

Just how far up your ass does your head have to be, to pull something like that off? Seriously, WTF? How can you have the kind of commitment, time and money to own something like that, and not give a rat's ass about your flying. Okay, shovel the usual, politically correct crap about contributing factors, human factors and all that warm and fuzzy BS in my direction. I can take it. That guy is the consummate MORON!!

[sky's the limit]

Sweet landing.... minus the "wheels" bit. Details.

[cncpc]

There is a possibility that the gear wouldn't come down, in which case good job. Not sure if the engine was caught or stopped dead on first blade strike.

If it was intentional, probably could have done without sandpapering those flap trailing edges.

Likely a high Biggles Factor around there.

[Colonel Sanders]

I guess that's one technique to get stopped on a 10,000 foot runway?

[Siddley Hawker]

Good job.

[iflyforpie]

If it was my plane and it was a gear problem, I would have headed to Penticton only a few minutes to the north rather than bellying in at Oliver.

The only advantage of going in there is that's where the warbird shop is (or was) and perhaps not getting a CADORS...

Do you see him hitting the rudder at the end? WTF? Better to go straight off into the toolies than sideways into the sod!

[xsbank]

He shut the engine off before it touched - it must have been intentional.

[Beefitarian]

Do you see him hitting the rudder at the end? WTF? Better to go straight off into the toolies than sideways into the sod!

It was very considerate of him to clear the runway for everyone else.

[pelmet]

He shut the engine off before it touched - it must have been intentional.

I don't think the prop would stop that quickly if it were intentionally shut down. it would windmill. And if he intentionally shut it down it was at about 1 millimeter above the runway.

[Nwtflier]

Not saying that this didn't happen, but does anyone else think it looks awfully animated as it starts to scrape and come even with the camera guy?

[Siddley Hawker]

Seriously?

No, but somebody had to say it and I figured it might as well be me.

[AirFrame]

Do you see him hitting the rudder at the end? WTF? Better to go straight off into the toolies than sideways into the sod!

Maybe he thought he wouldn't make it to the end and didn't want to leave the runway blocked... It was a busy weekend with a formation clinic going on.

Just how far up your ass does your head have to be, to pull something like that off?

Never forgotten anything on *your* checklist, eh? Got lucky that you weren't in a retract at the time?

What surprises me is the apparent number of people standing near the runway watching/filming, and yet nobody has a handheld to shout "gear!" on it.

[North Shore]

I wonder if it was intentional - why, otherwise, did the engine stop before touchdown?

[Beefitarian]

I watched it'a couple more times. It looks like one of the blades hit the runway, stopped the engine then turned the prop back slightly, to the position it is in in the still picture at the end.

First time it definitely looked like it was shut down in that position to keep the blades clear.

[slowstream]

Once again, many people quick to jump to judgement without looking

My perspective from the video was that he shut the engine down just before touchdown which from a very limited point of assessment leads one to believe that it was indeed intentional.

If indeed that was the situation, it was well done and executed

[Beefitarian]

I just watched it yet again, it does shut down just before the prop strikes. It's only 15 seconds between the start of the video where the plane is short final and the point where the prop blade drags.

Unless he had that adrenaline slow motion it probably seemed even faster at the controls.

[beaverbob]

Watch in large screen on u-tube and use your pause. The engine was completely stopped before the prop touched the ground. Then one blade touched off vertical and then the blades rotated around as the weight settled onto it. This engine has not likely been damaged. Notice that the nose gear is out of its well. Shouldn't the wheel be out of sight with closed doors if selected up?
Bob

[Beefitarian]

Nanchang? Sounds Chinese. You're not suggesting something built in China could have a gear failure are you Bob?

Nearly everything is built there now, I thought that was because of the known high quality.

[iflyforpie]

The prop hit the ground running. Two reasons... either it was shut down and windmilling, or it hit with power. You can hear the blades hitting the pavement, which has a bit of lag because of the speed of sound... and you can see the bent tips on all three blades. Watch it in 1080p and it is pretty clear.

Nanchang gear is partially exposed when retracted.

[Big Pistons Forever]

I was not there so I can't comment on whether it was intentional or not. However the Nanchang has no gear warning horn/light or any ground anti-retraction system, except for a little slider on the gear handle assembly. The result is this airplane seems to have more than its fair share of inadvertant gear ups or gear selected up on the ground, accidents.

All that being said, good checklist discipline will eliminate the possibility of an inadvertent gear up landing.......

[Rowdy]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.. but I was under the impression (from watching them preflight nanchangs and the yaks at ZBB many moons ago) that they have pneumatics for the gear etc? Perhaps a failure of a pump or line? Hence the nose gear being slightly out of the well like BeaverBob mentioned?

Also, hard to chastise the poor fellow for this without knowing if it was a failure or not. If it was, then it was a wise choice to go to oliver and not cause havoc in penticton and a runway closure at a busier airport. Also, the firehall is only about 3 minutes away! Probably take just as long to roll the trucks at pen

[Beefitarian]

Well, after all my yipin' I'm left knowing only two things about this for sure.

- I'm glad no one was hurt and the plane can be repaired.
- That sucks no matter why it happened.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.. but I was under the impression (from watching them preflight nanchangs and the yaks at ZBB many moons ago) that they have pneumatics for the gear etc? Perhaps a failure of a pump or line? Hence the nose gear being slightly out of the well like BeaverBob mentioned?

:

The nose landing gear is almost totally exposed when in the full up position. The landing gear in this airplane was in the normal up position when it hit the runway. The gear, as well as the flaps,brakes, and starter, are all pneumatic. However the gear has a separate emergency air bottle which has its own lines which go straight from the bottle to the gear actuator bypassing all the normal main air system lines/selectors/check valves etc etc. However the gear needs air pressure to lock down so the first thing you do if you think you have a problem with the air system is put the gear down.

Looking at the video again, it is hard not to conclude that the guy just plain forgot the gear. I sure hope I am wrong........

[pez]

What surprises me is the apparent number of people standing near the runway watching/filming, and yet nobody has a handheld to shout "gear!" on it.

Funny, I did just that at Port Alberni last year.... sitting around with a few folks with a glider and tow plane in the air, and a Glasair that looked like he was doing a low and over....until the last minute, with flaps down and a wee bit slow for a low and over.... Grabbed a handheld and repeated "LANDING GEAR, LANDING GEAR, LANDING GEAR"..... Looked like he came within of the runway inches on his prop and the trailing edge of his flaps before going around.... Was interesting. He didn't come back to land.