Talk about close calls....

[Distorted Humor]

my around the world scenic tour almost came to a screeching halt, turns out the was landing at MMGL after a long flight, (MMHO to MMGL) and was doing a nice landing, was about to touch down when I looked at the 3rd person view....


And realized that I had not put down the landing gear

quickly got that down before pancaking, which would be rather disappointing after a 3+ hour flight....

What other stupid moves have folks made?

[Tim_A]

There are two types of pilot: Those who have landed with the gear up, and those who are going to!

I'm firmly in the first category

[freddy]

In some respects the simulator is very realistic. In other respects, it is not. You were lucky that you noticed your gear was not down ... but it was an OUTSIDE view that alerted you to the problem (I am assuming that your reference to "3rd person view" means "outside view").

I myself was once saved for exactly the same thing by an outside view. The yoke in the VC in the Baron obscures the landing gear lights and unless you switch to a panel or 2D view, you can't check 3-green. That is what caught me out ... a busy crosswind landing, lots of traffic, ATC giving decend-turn-descend-turn instructions every few seconds or so ... as a result, I didn't check 3-green properly and made an ASSUMPTION. Oops. But an outside view saved me. But, as a result, I doubt I will make that mistake again. It is good to "learn" from one's mishaps.

I must do one of these round the world trips in the sim. They sound like a lot of fun. Best I've done is across the continent of Australia (west coast to east cost) in the default cessna.

[Distorted Humor]

The around the world trips are a lot of fun it gives you a chance to see a lot of the flight sim that you normally never would see, for example, MMAA is now on my list of "nice places to go" from this trip.

I found a online listing from leg to leg, and I am using it as a framework, but not married to that persons flight plan. In fact, will be breaking up the next leg into two or three peices as I am trying to avoid too many 500+ mile legs, as they get old real quick.

I thought about the Cessna, then I decided that the Bravo would be better as it was a little more speedy then the old Cessna.

Sims will be always semi unrealistic as if you crash, its not NEARLY as big of a deal as crashing in real life.

[gander]

Can't claim this would always be true, but in "real life" I think you'd often feel whether or not the gear was down (even if you forgot to check) because of the turbulence and vibration ususally associated with extended gear.

"Sims will be always semi unrealistic as if you crash, its not NEARLY as big of a deal as crashing in real life."

Well, yes...

But I used to use the add-on "enhancement package" with my sim programs: the one that includes the screeching, rending metal sounds in a crash impact, and the screams of the victims trapped in the flameing wreckage, and the shriek of the airline's Financial Management Officer experiencing a coronary when receiving the bill for the latest airplane I've totalled.

Finally my wife couldn't stand it any longer and made me turn off the Enhancement Package.

Flying's still fun -- a bit quieter and less dramatic now, but still fun. Now I use my Spitfire at about 25' altitude to strafe that cruise ship anchored near the airstrip at St. Maartens. You should hear those tourists scream as they jump overboard!

[InsyleM]

Done that before... Done a few bonehead things.....
Rememeber flying into KSUU in a C-5, on final at flare height thinking...
Thats odd i should have touched down by now... SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEE as the belly slides along the runway.... ops...

ANother bonehead mistake that I did a few times.. that I now ALWAYS check for prior to takeoff is...
Ive attempted takeoff with spoilers deployed....
It doesnt work very well, I think once i acually made it airborne bairly.....

Another time I forgot to raise the flaps after takeoff, and I was at cruise wondering why i was going so slow. .. lol

[tigisfat]

I was waiting for an aircraft I was about to rent to return about a year ago when an instructor friend of mine and his students walked into the FBO. The students didn't look like anything was amiss, but the instructor was oddly quiet. He said "you're gonna have to take another aircraft" and walked out. I followed him and opened the door to the outside to watch him light up two cigarettes. I asked why, and he said it was because they had struck the prop on the school's piper arrow.

ATC told his student to go around while they were in the flare for FOD on the runway. My friend told his student to fly, and he'd get the radio call. He acnowledged the instruction as the student climbed away. Prior to this, while they were entering the pattern and again on final, my friend and his student both verified that the gear was down and recited "before landing checklist complete". They only got about 100 feet into the air on their go-around when tower again cleared them to land, if they felt comfortable. The power was chopped and down they went. About five seconds later, my friend looked down to check over the student's work only to see the gear handle up and the three green lights diminished. He yelled "I've got the aircraft!!" and applied full power and a healthy dose of pull, but they were so low already that the prop hit. The gear was lowered in the balloon while the engine vibrated like mad and they set it right back down. He didn't count on the student raising the landing gear within seconds of being off the ground, but that doesn't mean the student wasn't going to do it regardless of what he's been taught.

Where to begin? Make your before landing checklist a ritual, and even complete it in fixed gear aircraft and in MSFS. Noone wants to have a long MSFS flight where you surprise yourself by ruining it at the pinnace moment, and noone wants to wreck a real aircraft. Procedures are important in real life, and they can be fun in MSFS.

But more in keeping with this thread's purpose, I've screwed up many times. I've performed many 'airshows' where I don't quite make it out of the bottom, and I've landed gear up a few times. It always shocks me and scares me a little.

[Tim_A]

I've attempted a take off with the autopilot alt hold engaged! It's a good way to see the world from a height of 0 feet!

[FITZY]

Once while flying with a CFI, I glanced out and down at the landing gear on final. The eagle-eyed instructor caught me and remarked dryly that there was only one landing gear state in this aircraft - a C-172.

Still, it was reassuring to see the rubber in the expected location, and I did not reveal how many times in FS I had earned the nickname "slider" with that terrible realization that we should have touched down by now!

[YQTfun2]

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.

Running away screaming like a school girl works too