Tokyo Drift - Twin Otter Edition

It looked like that airplane done pooped itself as it skidded to a halt. Left dookie all over the runway!
 
I got a kick out of hearing him try to save it with beta only on one side during the first slide...

That was probably the real “eff me... that didn’t work... seriously?!” moment where PF got really busy for a second there.

The second slide was just getting impatient with too much asymmetric thrust and nosewheel steering that dug into the muck.

“Good lord this runway is a mess. I didn’t hear any crunching, I don’t think we hit anything with the tail or broke anything...”

Hahaha.
 
Kritchlow said:
And the Europeans claim they have better pilot training.
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Really can’t say where the pilots were trained. Buddy of mine was FAA trained and then spent almost ten years flying Twin Otters on floats in the Maldives. Not a horrible gig.

Then he went to Croatia. Sounded like that didn’t go great. Problems between the airline and the government or similar. He liked it but it died some bureaucratic death or something like that.

He’s back Stateside right now and was doing contract jumper dumper duties for USFS smokejumpers last year.

Not sure that’s his “final” plan right now, but he’s not saying. Knowing him, some crazy far flung corner of the world is next again.
 
About 1500 hours in the Twotter and loved it. Looked like he was using the nose wheel steering instead of rudder and beta but then I would have probably done the same thing. He definitely didn't break the nose wheel steering cable or he wouldn't have taxied away like that. (BTDT). Wet, mucky runway...it flew again...move along nothing to see here.
 
Guessing someone got a little squirrely with the tiller. If centered on landing, you really shouldn't even need it until airspeed bleeds below 25-30 kts. The massive rudder will control most everything else. If above those airspeeds, any little bump will result in this if you aren't prepared...even if you are prepared it can be a scary ride. Otherwise, the Twin Otter is a dream to fly.
 
Not the pilots fault. Some mechanic must have moved the main gear in front of the cg.
 
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Bobanna said:
Didn't the Alon Aircoupe have swiveling landing gear that allowed one to land in a crab?
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Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
I don't recall that it swiveled - just made stout enough that you could bang it down sideways.
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As Capt. G.T. mentioned, the Ercoupe (and the later Forney and Alon versions) had a hinged trailing link main gear that did not swivel. In a tri-gear airplane, the main gear behind the C.G. helps pull the nose straight as soon as ground contact is made in a crab. (Of course, all bets are off in the mud, like with the Twin Otter in the video above.)

Swiveling main gear could be helpful in a tailwheel arrangement, however, where landings in a crab often led to loss of directional control or groundloop. Goodyear Tire & Rubber patented a swiveling mechanism for the main gear of several light tailwheel airplanes, including Cessna 170 and 195. "Goodyear Crosswind Wheels" were even certified for the DC-3.

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