Landing Tip for Pilots of All Experience
Levels from Master CFI Nick Schillen
It happens about 100 times every year, according to
the FAA. Experienced pilots, airline pilots, military pilots have all fallen
victim to it. 'It' is a gear up landing. Master Flight Instructor Nick Schillen
has a safety tip that might help you avoid it.
One example of who can be
involved occurred the very day Dulles International Airport opened some 40 years
ago. Two executives from the FAA decided to be among the first to visit Dulles.
They took the FAA's Piper Comanche from Washington National Airport and headed a
few miles west. Approaching Dulles both experienced pilots were impressed by the
size and at that time lack of air traffic of the new facility. They contacted
the tower, lined up with the 10,000-foot runway and made a beautiful approach.
Over the numbers, a flare, and crunch. Gear up landing!
This brought the emergency
equipment and airport officials. Both pilots had exited the Comanche and were
standing sheepishly beside it as the airport manager arrived. Recognizing his
friends from the FAA office he asked: 'Gosh, how did you get here so fast?' One
of the embarrassed pilots responded: 'Oh, we flew in.'
Gear-up landings rarely
involve injury to pilots or passengers but they do cause damage to the aircraft
as well as expense, inconvenience, and embarrassment to the pilot involved.
According to the FAA, most gear-up landings are made because pilots are
distracted and do not follow a landing check list.
Master Flight Instructor Nick
offers a safety tip to help prevent this from happening to you. 'When I am
transitioning a pilot into a complex plane,' he says, 'I always instill in their
minds a little saying intended to automatically call to mind the correct action:
GOING DOWN GEAR DOWN. My clients make a mantra of it.'
Nick is a Master Flight Instructor and President
of NS Aviation, Inc., located at Hollywood/North Perry Airport (KHWO), Pembroke
Pines, Florida. With more than 8,000 hours as a commercial and military pilot as
well as a flight instructor, Nick continues to enjoy flying today as much as he
did when he started flying 40 years ago.
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