Cessna 172 RG, GEAR Issue

[Henning]

Someone on Cardinal Flyers wrote a while ago about keeping the tow bar handy to pull the mains into locked position in case of total hydraulic failure. I do carry my tow bar but I have no idea if that's even feasible, much less any kind of a solution given that the nose wheel would require the same, and I don't see how it's even reachable through a cracked-open door.

He's an idiot. Don't even consider it. The only time people die in a gear up situation is when they try to do stupid things to "save the plane". F- the plane, save yourself. If you ever run into a situation where the gear won't come down, just slide her on in. Those legs will just fold back out of the way and you'll slide in nice and easy just so long as you don't get distracted trying to do something stupid like stopping the prop on short final. That gear has a ****load of drag when dangling and will decelerate you a lot faster than you're used to and may cause you to stall it in. Just drive that puppy right on and let her eat the prop as she slides to a stop. It's just metal that's easy to replace.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Those legs will just fold back out of the way and you'll slide in nice and easy just so long as you don't get distracted trying to do something stupid like stopping the prop on short final. That gear has a ****load of drag when dangling and will decelerate you a lot faster than you're used to and may cause you to stall it in. Just drive that puppy right on and let her eat the prop as she slides to a stop. It's just metal that's easy to replace.

I know a guy in a 182RG that hit an owl at night. The bird caved the nosewheel doors in and jammed it in the well. Mains came out OK. He shut the engine down on final, bumped the prop level with the starter, and landed it. When the nose came down and ground along the pavement, the vibration allowed compression in once cylinder to turn the prop until it, too, ground along the pavement, and in the end the engine had to come all apart anyway and the prop replaced. Gained nothing by shutting it down and reduced his options a whole bunch.

Dan