Comanche Gear Up Landing at I73

Sounds like mechanical failure, couldn’t get the gear down. Seems to of worked out well under the circumstances.

Upon closer inspection, the prop tips do appear bent back, not saying it could be avoided anyway. I know there are the techniques, but a safe landing ‘trumps’ avoiding further costs.
 
Ah, just north of me. I've also "Q-tipped" a prop.
 
Comanche gear go down by gravity if released, right?

Iirc there’s a extending handle
 
Randomskylane said:
Comanche gear go down by gravity if released, right?

Iirc there’s a extending handle
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They won't lock by gravity alone, but there is a manual "Johnson Bar" style handle that is the emergency extension system. The only was the gear could be stuck up mechanically is if some part catastrophically broke and bound the gear up, which is uncommon. Most common failure is electrical or gearbox, and the emergency gear extension procedure releases the gear from the motor and transmission then the handle is used to extend the gear manually.

Having done one emergency extension in a Comanche, it can take a little umph to get the gear handle "over-center" and locked in flight.
 
A flight school near us had a Twin Comanche land gear up. That jackscrew and the rest of the stuff had not been cared for, nor properly lubed, and it finally seized up and the gear wouldn't extend all the way.
 
Dan Thomas said:
A flight school near us had a Twin Comanche land gear up. That jackscrew and the rest of the stuff had not been cared for, nor properly lubed, and it finally seized up and the gear wouldn't extend all the way.
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Unpopular opinion, but in 2022, the bolded is rather stipulated for the bell curve. That 1khour gear AD is probably, on a labor-$ basis, the most egregiously pencil-whipped AD out there. As time continues to march on this orphanage, it will get more pencil whipped, not less.

I think the OP needs to look at those pictures again, it's prop struck like you read about. The thing is probably totaled, if @dans2992 recent anecdote is any reference of consequence. Insurance ain't getting any cheaper either, for the remaining.
 
Whatever happened to the Q-tip prop design? I remember seeing a couple on light twins on the GAC ramp at MIA years ago. As quietly as the design appeared, it went away.
 
Capngrog said:
Whatever happened to the Q-tip prop design? I remember seeing a couple on light twins on the GAC ramp at MIA years ago. As quietly as the design appeared, it went away.
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No idea. Prince props can be ordered with a "P" tip design (experimental aircraft only) that have that prop strike look on the tips ...
 
Capngrog said:
Whatever happened to the Q-tip prop design? I remember seeing a couple on light twins on the GAC ramp at MIA years ago. As quietly as the design appeared, it went away.
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Maybe the prop shops kept straightening them out?

If it didn't make a noticeable performance difference, it wouldn't sell for too long. The market rejects stuff that doesn't work, even if it gets fooled for awhile.
 
Kenny Taylor said:
I suspect you're plenty motivated at that point!
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But if things are seized up, no amount of oomph is going to do the job. You'll just bend stuff. The pilots of the Twin Comanche I mentioned couldn't actuate the gear manually. Thoroughly stuck. Lots of lubrication points ignored.
 
Kenny Taylor said:
I suspect you're plenty motivated at that point!
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In self-reflection at the time, neither I nor my CFI at the time were all that worked up over the situation. We weren't getting a green light, but could see the handle moving with the normal extension using the switch. Decided to play it safe and follow the procedures, step by step. Still no green light, did a fly-by, gear "looked down". Then I landed gently. Neither of us were worried, we knew we wouldn't get hurt, just worst case bend the airplane and call the insurance company. I even though how strangely calm both of us were for my first "emergency".

Granted...neither of us owned the airplane. It was a rental.
 
midwestpa24 said:
In self-reflection at the time, neither I nor my CFI at the time were all that worked up over the situation. We weren't getting a green light, but could see the handle moving with the normal extension using the switch. Decided to play it safe and follow the procedures, step by step. Still no green light, did a fly-by, gear "looked down". Then I landed gently. Neither of us were worried, we knew we wouldn't get hurt, just worst case bend the airplane and call the insurance company. I even though how strangely calm both of us were for my first "emergency".

Granted...neither of us owned the airplane. It was a rental.
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I put a mark on the floor under the trans cover at the where the gear shuttle ballscrew reaches the point of full gear extension. That way if the green light doesn't light, I got options to check gear down without disconnecting the trans.
 
My policy is to have the Owner activate Emergency Extension with aircraft on jacks. Some folks were clearly “ lost”. One guy could only do from the right seat.
Hmm! Later he could not get the gear down when needed. The reason was a stray soft drink can in the wrong place. I’ve heard of a briefcase restricting the Johnson bar preventing extension.

One time I put the gear down at a little too high airspeed. As designed; the Breaker popped. I just flew around a while till the Breaker cooled. After adjusting to proper airspeed and resting the gear went down. Being in a hurry to get on the ground produces bad results.
 
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