Handling A Typical Mooney Mooney
"Gear-Up" Incident/Accident
Blunting The Trauma By Making The Right Choices At The Right Time...
By Coy Jacob,
Associate Editor Aviation Consumer, Light Plane Maintenance, and The MOA
Pilot Magazines
Getting It Off The Runway
The first order of business is getting it off the runway as soon as possible
without doing any more damage. Typically this means raising the aircraft
sufficiently so that you can extend the gear so it can be towed to the ramp or
hangar. If you have had a genuine "pilot error" gear-up, then you can
simply lower the gear in the normal manner after your Mooney has been raised
sufficiently to do so. Generally after an inspection has showen their is
no damage to the gear system, the aircraft can be towed in by a tug carefully
but in a relative normal manner.
However, if you have any reason that the gear was "in transit" or collapsed upon touchdown, then extra precautions must be taken to insure the integrity of the gear isn't compromised. The gear must me LOCKED DOWN manually via external "C" clamps and extra stiffeners or metal splints on the retract bellcranks so that the gear can't (again) collapse or "track-in" so as to collapse while the aircraft is being towed. Additionally, we think it may be wise to hand tow or push the aircraft if the gear system was damaged, rather than tow it via a tug so that if a gear leg starts to track in, the forward progress can be immediately stopped and remedied prior to any more damage being done.
The
Personal Or Psychological Guilt Factor
First off, try not to be too concerned or embarrassed when/if this ever
happens to you. You know what they say..."There are those who have and
those who will...." I know of several type A "captains of
industry" who literally broke down and cried like a baby upon exiting their beloved
Mooneys they just skidded down a runway sans rotating tires on their Mooneys
belly.... I think it hurt them more than their beloved Mooney.
Actually, a simple "gear-up" isn't all that bad of a situation long-term
providing you have had a fairly good safety record otherwise. Your first gear-up
shouldn't raise many flags with either the FAA or your insurance company. I know of
one genuine rocket scientist who actually did 3 "gear-up's" and one of which was
when FAA Safety Inspector personnel were watching his landing to keep an appointment take
a remedial flight with the FAA Safety Inspector due to his first such incident! His
third was when landing at a Mooney shop to affect repairs on another landing mishap where
he mowed down a taxi or intersection sign...! No matter how bad you feel, you
probably can't ever top that.... Or how about the 8,000+ hour P-51 pilot who swore
he wouldn't do a gear-up, so just when he was settling in sans tires and his prop started
to touch, he poured the coal to it and took off again! He flew a few hundred miles
back home with a bent prop and his ADF antenna ground off.... By the way, both
accounts are true!
| Sometimes it helps to smile.... Question: Do you know how you can tell if you land your Mooney "gear-up"...? Answer: It takes a lot of power to taxi..... |
Picking A Repair Facility
Who does the repair work and exactly what kind of repairs are done could affect the
value of your Mooney long-term. Only in rare circumstances would I recommend you
have the local (incident scene) FBO or shop do the repairs just because the incident
happened at their front door. If at all possible, you should consider transporting your
Mooney to a "Mooney specific" shop for repairs, as I have seen more
"botched" or sloppy gear-up repairs than you can imagine! In short,
some Mooney specialty shops can actually return to you, your Mooney in better condition
after the incident than before. In fact, your aircraft can actually be worth more if
you are smart.
Make no mistake, most insurance carriers will not only allow you to ferry your Mooney to the shop of your choice, but pay for the trip. Some adjusters may be reluctant due to the fact they loose some control (or commissions?) over the job, but and I believe you should exercise this right in most circumstances. Be advised, practically no A&P will ever admit he isn't capable of making typical M20 gear-up repairs. Some select Mooney specific shops around the country may do more in any 6 month period than most A&P's do in their entire career... So, unless you have good reasons to leave it where it happens, we strongly suggest you put a "loner" prop on it, have the crankshaft "dialed" to make sure it will make the trip and fly it or have the Mooney shop of your choice handle the simple ferry to a Mooney shop of your choice.
Making Sure Your Mooney Gets "Free" Up-Dates & STC's, etc. During
The Repair Process
I have seen many older "pre-201" type
Mooneys who's owners brought to tears because their Mooney was put back together with
stock aluminum belly skins when if they would have only looked into it further, they could
have had a $5-6,000 Fiberglass Belly Mod at no additional charge...! Typically your
insurance company won't care what kind of belly you reinstall as long as it doesn't cost
them any more. Several mod shops will install a OEM Fiberglass Belly Mod when doing
a "gear-up" repair at little or no extra cost. The unique thing is that
this mod can not only add speed and make it much easier to do future annual inspections
etc, but it actually adds value to your Mooney which can go a long way to blunt the
depreciation of a "damage history" M20.
Also, under no circumstances would I suggest you
install the old style nose gear doors when the new style overlapping nose gear doors cost
the same and provide a quieter cabin and a little more speed. In fact, this mod
makes so much sense and is so economical, I suggest it for every Mooney as a "must
have" update. A little known fact is that there is no insulation in the
nose gear well well area between the pilot's and co-pilot's feet and since the exhaust is
right outside, these new style doors help seal this area and go a long way to help keep
the cabin quieter.
Your Right To Have Your Mooney Transported To The Mooney Specific Shop Of
Your Choice
Another little known fact is that most insurance companies will pay a
reasonable expense to have your Mooney ferried (via FAA ferry permit etc. with
temporary repairs etc.), or de-mated and transported overland by truck/trailer to a shop
for repairs. Few adjusters will volunteer this information perhaps because of the
fact they tend to loose control and risk spending more of the insurance companies money by
doing so. However, generally speaking you don't have to have the nearest shop or
A&P do the work just because the incident/accident happened at their door
step. Perhaps they are qualified, and perhaps they are not. What owners
need to be on the look-out for is the fact most "local" shops fairly admit they
aren't.... Typically accidents are viewed as "bonus" work local shops tend
to covet, so it takes a dedicated owner to buck the trend to have the retrieval shop
finish the work.
While the insurance company may not want pay to have a Georgia based Mooney to be shipped to California (or visa versa), they will generally pay "reasonable" transportation expense. In fact, I have seen them pay nearly "cost to coast" transportation expenses more than once as after all, transportation expense is generally a small fraction of most repairs....
Personally, after seeing so many repair jobs "after the fact" which have gone bad and left a scared M20 with marginal or shoddy repairs, I don't think much of the idea of letting others learn on your Mooney! If necessary, I think it is good business for the owner to consider kick-in some money for transportation if it means picking a well known Mooney specific shop VS an unknown. This is especially true if OEM up-dates or mods can be incorporated in the repair process at little or no additional cost.
  Note:
This first article or opinion/observation is contributed by Coy G. Jacob
who is well known within Mooney circles as the owner/founder of The Mod Squad/Mooney Mart complex in
Venice, Fla. Jacob has been in the Mooney marketplace for some 24+ years, amassed
some 5,000+ hrs., and owned several Mooneys himself. He has numerous STC's and hold
several World Speed Records as well has written an authoritative book on Mooneys called,
"The Backwards Tails". He also serves as a long-term investigative editor
for Aviation Consumer Magazine.
For more information on this subject, see back issues of Aviation Consumer, Light
Plane Maintenance, MAPA Log, or The MOA PILOT magazine specifically the June
'01 issue page 14 titled "Bent Aluminum:
What To Do When It Happens To You".He has been written up in most aviation magazines, and has given several seminars around the country on the care and feeding of Mooneys. While he serves on MOA's Board, the opinions given here are not necessarily those of MOA, but are his personal observations and suggestions.
Note: Check in with MOA for a complete list of approved Mooney repair/mod facilities PRIOR to ordering repair/retrieval work initiated. |
Making Sure It Doesn't Happen Again
There are two Mooney friendly PMA'd devices gear alert type on the market which (in
our opinion) go a long way to insure you never land your Mooney without first lowering
your landing gear again. MOA has done product reviews on both of these
products and we strongly suggest you consider installing them. Both the
military and the airline industry has done a number of studies which seem to prove that us
pilots respond better to a direct verbal message saying "lower your gear goofy"
than an abstract bell or horn. Both of these devices are relatively economical and
easy to install and will probably make your insurance company smile. In fact,
letting your company know (in writing) that you have taken it on your own initiative to
install one probably makes good sense. Please see the MOA PILOT page
9 of the August '01 issue titled "Bitching Bettys" for more details.
We welcome member input in all areas such as the one discussed here. If you have personal experiences which you would like to share, please Email or call us for the good of us all.
MOA Pilot Magazine PDF
Reprints "From The Experts" On This Topic |
June '01, The
MOA PILOT Magazine: "Bent Aluminum: What To Do When It Happens To You",
By A MOA Staff Research Report on how to handle insurance claims etc. |
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