EAA Chapter 1241 Marathon, FL

Kaitlin Hopkins, 17, daughter of Cindy and Rex Hopkins, Big Pine Key residents, received a $1,500 flying scholarship from the Marathon chapter of the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA). Kaitlin, a senior at Key West High School is getting her flight training from her dad Rex, a certified flight instructor and pilot for Mosquito Control Air Operations based at Marathon Airport. Kaitlin accepted the first of three $500 checks from Jerry Metcalf, the president of the local EAA chapter at the chapter’s monthly meeting on December 1, 2007.

Besides an interest in flying, Kaitlin is a member of the varsity soccer “Lady Conchs” at Key West High School. She hopes to become a pre-law student at Florida State University next year.

Kaitlin’s scholarship covers part of the cost of obtaining a private pilot certificate. Her parents are responsible for the rest. Her aviation medical examination came at no cost, provided by Julie Floyd, MD, of Key West. Kaitlin is the latest of three scholarship students sponsored by EAA Chapter 1241. Our last student, David Operchal, is now attending the Air Force Academy.

The Experimental Aircraft Association, best known for Airventure at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, its annual fly-in bringing in thousands of aircraft and hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts, promotes all forms of flying; homebuilt experimental category aircraft, war birds, restored aircraft, the “Young Eagles” program headed by actor Harrison Ford, that provides free flights for kids, and local chapters like the Marathon chapter, who fly hundreds of young eagles every year and sponsor Federal Aviation Agency safety seminars at Marathon airport.

Chapter member Bob Silber tells his story:

Doing what you never wanted to do: flying to a gear-up landing.

It happened on my wife Georgette's maiden voyage in my newly purchased Navion. I had flown the plane to Marathon from Mississippi on Thursday and Friday. On Sunday morning we flew to Key West for breakfast and then back to Marathon.

It was a clear VFR summer day. The trip to KEYW and back to KMTH seemed uneventful. We turned south after departing runway 9 Key West, and after some radio difficulties, contacted Navy departure and turned east for Marathon over the ocean.

Things went sour over the 7-mile bridge. I slowed and attempted to lower the landing gear for the approach.

I went through my pre-landing check list and pulled the knob actuating the hydraulic system. Pressure came up, I dropped the gear control lever, but I saw only two green lights: for the nose and left main gear indicating down and locked.

The right main indicator light ( which should have been green ) was blank and a red "UNSAFE" light glowed on the panel.

I re-cycled the gear and tried again but the same indications appeared. Then I tried the emergency procedures printed on my panel. I depressed the emergency gear release lever. The right gear would not drop. I tried manually pumping the gear down. The right would not drop. I lost count of how many times I repeated the normal and emergency procedures. Same story:the gear indication lights still showed a problem with the right main.

The next action was to dive and climb in order to induce negative Gs while attempting to drop the gear?same result. Complicating things, the negative G maneuvers frightened Georgette. But, she remained bravely quiet allowing me to concentrate on flying the plane.

The folks at the Crystal Clear Aviation FBO became a great support team.  When I over-flew Marathon airport at 200 feet they all piled outside and confirmed that the right gear was indeed up. I made several more attempts to lower the gear and over-flew the runway again. Same story; the right gear stubbornly remained up. Passing beneath my wing, a Cessna 172 pilot re-confirmed my problem as we flew downwind for Runway 25, left traffic.

The Delta Daily from Atlanta was due in while all this was happening, so I was asked to delay landing until the commercial flight put down. I had plenty of fuel so there was no problem complying. Circling during the next quarter hour, I came to grips with the reality that I had to perform a gear-up landing. But How?

Virginia at Crystal Clear Aviation scrambled Tony D'Auito who is an A&P, Warbird pilot, and volunteer fireman.  Tony combined everything I needed in one person and he did  a great job of talking me through the options on the radio. Maybe it was the innumerable touch and goes I had performed in my 500 logged hours. Maybe it was the strength and integrity of the Navion I flew. I don?t know why, but I felt strangely calm and confident. I knew and accepted that the plane would be damaged. I believed that I could safely land and that Georgette and I would walk away.

The commercial jet landed and taxied to the terminal ramp. Emergency crews gathered alongside the runway. Flying downwind for runway 7 and talking things over with Tony, I decided to land with all the gear up rather than risk a dangerous spin on the runway with a two-wheel landing.

When I asked what I could expect to happen Tony told me I would hear some terrible noises; that the plane would go straight for a while and then I would lose control of it.

We discussed the option of shutting down the engine and coming in dead stick, but we generally agreed that cutting the power would change the handling characteristics of the plane and the way it would land. My decision was to simply fly the plane to a normal landing?as if I really had landing gear.

I throttled back to landing speed and lowered flaps then I turned base for runway 7. On short final, I focused on the runway markings and a landing aim-point . We slid the canopy partially back and turned off the fuel (there was plenty of gas in a central accumulator tank to provide landing power). I forgot to turn off the master switch. Fortunately that did not matter; we had neither flames nor fire.

Over the runway, I flared the plane a little early, added power to avoid a partial stall and then landed smoothly. Georgette later remarked that it felt as though we had wheels, except for the noise.

We slid down the runway, the prop clattering, striking the ground. In the last few yards, as Tony predicted, I lost control of the plane. We veered right and came to a stop half-on and half-off the runway. A puff of smoke smelling of burning rubber came into the cabin. Later we learned that the main gear on both sides had dropped slightly and that we actually had landed on the sides of the tires. We scrambled out of the plane and fire-rescue people led us away.

Next came some very important comforting words, hugs, and handshakes from the people on the ground. The police drove us to the FBO where I gave a verbal account of the incident. Ironically, I learned that when the plane was lifted off the runway, the gear dropped into place. Go figure.

Then home and several stiff drinks.

Later, I reported the incident to the Airport manager, the NTSB, the FSDO, and my insurance company.