#77 Gear wont go down!!!

[MRussell]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Not to sound too dramatic but we're damn lucky we didn't lose The Bear or John today. To fill in some blanks, John and Steve were circling out over the extreme north end of the Unlimited course, and Steve advised John to load it up with "as many positive Gs as possible, at about 250 knots." The relief in Steve's voice when that other main leg popped out was amazing. I'd love to watch a video replay of the entire ordeal. I had four Reno newbies with me today and they were staggered by the tension as we watched from the pits. One of my newbie friends said, "my God, these airplanes are like family members to you." Here's a pic of the John and Steve as they passed over the west end hangars, troubleshooting.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

You guys are so awesome! I'm just trying to quickly read the messages from today!

I was stuck on the pylon bus right beside the runway John was going to have to come in on. The bus driver managed to plug in someone's handheld and had it on the bus PA system.. When *someone* said something to the effect of "better get it down gear up while you can"...

We all just started praying on the media bus!

I spoke with the crew tonight, it was a gear in the retract mechanism for the pocket doors.. (If I am remembering right, I was stuffing my face with wonderful American Air Racing BillBQ2008 food when the story came round..

Have a pic of the item that failed.... one of the gears broke a tooth or two, then when the gear door started to hang more, more teeth broke.. This is NOT first hand from the crew.. they were too busy to bother "news gathering" but came from a source close to them..

It's ironic in that, yesterday (or it could have been day before... days run together after a few down here) Steve Hinton aborted his landing when something didn't look right with the gear on Glacier Girl.. He finally landed but it was found that the gear was NOT fully locked!

How crappy would it have been for Rod to have TWO of his prized birds have gear problems that caused big damage in two days!!

Fortunately, GREAT piloting and mechanical advice from the masters of both, kept this situation from being very VERY gnarly!!

[MRussell]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Naw, Wayner, you are awesome for providing us this venue to discuss racing like this. Thanks.

Is that photo of the actual failed part as removed from The Bear this evening?

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Naw, Wayner, you are awesome for providing us this venue to discuss racing like this. Thanks.

Is that photo of the actual failed part as removed from The Bear this evening?

To be honest, I'm not sure it's the actual part, or the part they have in stock to replace it.. I'm almost certain, it's the part of the Bear that "includes" the component/s that failed. From what I understand, it was a gear.. and I mean, like a gear, not the landing gear that failed, which then hung the landing gear in the up position.

Again, second hand, but very good source, there are no new gears being made but the crew have some old spares.. NOT new which can be used to replace what's there now..

Or.. maybe, they will pull a part from one of Rod's other Bearcats, fly it out and be more secure with the fix..

This could have been really really bad. A one leg landing in the Bearcat would not be pretty! At the very least, we could have lost the airplane, at the worst.. I don't want to think about it..

OH.. as a second to this.. I've also heard that John won the heat.. Word I'm getting is that Mike Brown broke the deadline and Dago cut a pylon..

Not confirmed but how ironic would that be!

[MRussell]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

OH.. as a second to this.. I've also heard that John won the heat.. Word I'm getting is that Mike Brown broke the deadline and Dago cut a pylon..

Not confirmed but how ironic would that be!

Unreal. My dad swore he saw Mike make a deadline cut and I shrugged it off, but Dad was adamant. I can't wait to see how the final results shake out.

AND IT'S ONLY FRIDAY FOLKS!

Thanks again Wayne.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Certainly one of the most exciting Unlimited Gold races in many, MANY years!

To see the Merlin's holding up and the the two round contenders in the mix as well, HEALTHY.. despite Bear's issues..

Just an amazing race!

[tjyak50]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

RARA shows SF = 1, DR = 2, RB = 3.
This is what it says for the Final today.

Can it change or is that it?

[Inverted]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Boy If we could have only heard the dialog from last years Sunday gold..... Yesterday was too intense!

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Boy If we could have only heard the dialog from last years Sunday gold..... Yesterday was too intense!

We had most of it piped into the bus.. chilling when whoever it was on the radio said something to the effect that John better land gear up now while he still could.. but he could not get both up! One up, one down at Stead is not a good thing.. anywhere really but especially at Stead!

[Inverted]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Steve Hinton tried to get that main up for John so he could belly it in. I can tell you Landing belly up is extremely dangerous but an aircraft like Bear with a HUGE prop and very long gear it would be the lesser of 2 evils. If it were me and had the time I would have opted for a 1 wheel landing. come in 20 knots hot put the left main on and shut the engine down. That would save Bear a bunch. God really shined down on John and the Bear crew yesterday. Especially with news about Glacier Girl's gear situation.

[Rampman]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

I have to agree this was the best gold race in years. Lots of close racing and everybody running fast. The conversation and decision making durring Rare Bear's emergency showed why only a few are qualified to race these planes. Those guys were unbelevably cool. Reminded me of why I love this sport.

[AlisoBob]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

I sure miss Skip running out there... He would have "Snap-Rolled" the
Bear. got the gear out, and landed.....

As the crew raced towards him, he would have shrugged his shoulders, and said....

"What?"

Skip's the best there ever was at Reno..... He was hard on planes, thats for sure, but he always brought them back.

[Rampman]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

My first year at Reno was in '82 when Skip had the prop the prop on Jeanie overspeed coming around the last pylon. Covered with oil he made a great emergency landing on the main runway, right where everbody coud see it. Very scary, and the whole pits broke into applause after he made it down.
I still have a copy of the air classics race issue from '82 which includes a detailed moment by moment description by him, including landing while looking to his rear. Gives real meaning to the words "Test Pilot". Too bad he dosen't have a top ride this year.

[nitromainia]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

I sure miss Skip running out there... He would have "Snap-Rolled" the
Bear. got the gear out, and landed.....

As the crew raced towards him, he would have shrugged his shoulders, and said....

"What?"

Skip's the best there ever was at Reno..... He was hard on planes, thats for sure, but he always brought them back.

Can't say enough about Skip but, Ya gotta hand it to John Penny - he's gettin' into the Skip category... what with last years Throttle Dilema and the Gear Deal yesterday the man's one cool head and sweet stick.... The same goes for Mr. Steve Hinton..... For that matter- 'bout that Mike Brown --It's really cool to see the best in the business in action... As good as it gets!!

RENO Baby!

[AlisoBob]

Re: #77 Gear wont go down!!!

Yes, Penney an Hinton are cool as ice in adverse conditions..... but you get the feeling Skip actually enjoys them...

My hats off to all of them.