We stopped. As I hit the rest of the
switches and turned the fuel off, I
heard Grant say, “Wow! I never landed
like that before! Let’s do it again!”
I wanted to get out fast in case of
a fuel leak. My door wouldn’t open. I
yanked the emergency door release,
and it came off its hinges. The rescue
workers were there asking if we were
okay and if I had turned off the
fuel. I got out and helped my son
get unbuckled. No one hurt—still a
beautiful day.
What Happened?
The oleo strut broke, about an inch
into its sleeve. Looking back at the
airframe logbook, I saw an entry that
said the right strut was replaced in
1969, but it doesn’t say where it came
from or why it was replaced. Doesn’t
even say whether it was the gear strut
or wing strut. I suspect gear.
The airplane wouldn’t roll
anywhere. The right gear had folded
to the rear and had blocked the door
from opening normally. One of the
volunteers from the fire department
owned one of the maintenance shops
on the field. He gave me his number
and told me to call if I needed some
help. Merl, the airport’s maintenance
worker, came over and asked if he could
help. He told me not to worry; he’d
find someone to move the airplane.
Hummingbird Aviation brought
a helicopter landing trailer over and
helped me move my plane to my
hangar. The tower and airport people
at Flying Cloud were great to work
with, as was my insurance company,
Phoenix Aviation Managers. I ended
up turning over the plane to insurance
for financial reasons. Some other lucky
pilot is now enjoying that putt-putt
sound.
So, what was learned from this
experience?
To this day I think that if I had
replaced the worn taxi springs in the
landing gear we would have found
the crack. Those springs had needed
replacing for a few years now, but other
items took precedence over replacing
them. From now on, if one part of a
system is worn, I’ll start considering
what else might need inspection on
that system, and not put off those
non-critical repairs!
I’m also happy that I stuck with my
personal principal of always making
the flight as safe as possible for my
boy. I would have been much more
worried and possibly distracted if I had
not gone back for that car seat. That
principal of “fly the plane” is so much
easier to follow when the distractions
are few.
Craig Rodberg is a Systems Programmer
and primarily works on IBM mainframe
systems. He is also an instrument rated
commercial pilot and has been flying as
a hobby for 17 years. In that time he has
accumulated 1,400 hours, mostly in conventional gear aircraft. He currently is a
volunteer pilot for the Minnesota Wing of
the Commemorative Air Force.
