I would like to hear of any catchy phrases that folks may have come up with to add to memory call outs approaching landing. Things like "landing ground, gear down, landing soup, gear upe".

If I’m shooting an approach I’ll put gear and first flap position at glide slope intercept , I say out loud, “glide slope alive flaps 20 landing land, gear down for land”

Before I get below 800 AGL I’ll run my before landing checklist aloud

Short final I’ll verbally and visually confirm gear position

Round out a quick last call glance at the gear position lights only


If at any point I miss one of these steps it’s a mandatory go around

For visual landings I just replace the glide slope alive with a 6 mile final

Do my flows, vocalize it all as it’s single pilot, confirm with checklists, never accept missing a flow or checklist at a checkpoint, if you do go around and do it over again

At least that’s my technique

You don't need anything "catchy", you need the DISCIPLINE to follow the required procedures EVERY time. It's simple, really.

If you don't believe you can land gear down in the water, don't fly an amphibian.....

MTV

mtv wrote:You don't need anything "catchy", you need the DISCIPLINE to follow the required procedures EVERY time. It's simple, really.

If you don't believe you can land gear down in the water, don't fly an amphibian.....

MTV

Well said sir

I agree, well said.

mtv wrote:Frankly, that first point you made MAY be part of the issue with a lot of these accidents, particularly if the pilot is a high time folding wheels type.......what position is the gear in EVERY time you land one of THOSE?? Down, of course. A dear old friend who is no longer with us was a very high time senior 777 captain. He bought a SeaBee, and on one of his first water landings, he landed gear down in the water. He told me later, there were distractions, and what position MUST the gear be in.....from his primary experience? My understanding was the gent in this accident was a very experienced corporate pilot.

I guarantee you that it is far easier than most pilots think to get distracted enough to make this mistake. Anything you can do to help minimize this risk is good. ...
MTV

When I was first learning to fly I was taught to always do gear checks even though it was in a C172. It was explained to me that if you always do it will help if ever getting into a retractrable gear plane in the future. Indeed it did! I'll probably never fly an amphib, but i've been involved in getting some youngsters getting their start that have gone on to flying with the majors. As mentioned above, it can happen to highly experienced disciplined aviators, Anything you can do to help minimize this risk is good.[/b] ...

Thanks for the replies.

For amphibs, a gear down water landing is much worse than a gear-up runway landing. The first step, then, is to get the gear UP.

“Positive rate; gear up” with every takeoff is a good first step.

As a couple of others have mentioned gear up should be the very first action after takeoff to reduce the risk. Thats #1 for sure. We did the same on the water the minute we broke water hand went to gear up lever to entrench the habit. When coming in to land on the ground the first thing we did was lower the gear just before the first radio call 5 or 10 miles out before any distractions occur and then the normal checks.
Feeling protected by mirrors, visual float markers or audio warnings is a false sense of security in a lot of ways. You soon get used to the nice lady making some kind of an announcement when your coming in to land.
You are the guy running the levers and you have 4 options every time.
Land on the land with the gear down.
Land on the land with the gear up.
Land on the water with the gear up.
Land on the water with the gear down.

Higher time pilots with a lot of retractable time, that are new to the float game, aren't necessarily lower risk as they are always making sure the gear is down for landing which can create a bad auto response. Short flights between land and water seem to be the higher risk.
A number of years back a guy in Brantford Ontario with a 185 on Edo 2790's landed on the paved runway with the gear up with virtually no damage. They jack it up on the runway and put the gear down and he took of and landed in a lake a few miles away with the gear down. All in one day.

To add on the gear up after TO comments. Took off with amphibs for the first time from a grass strip last year, 1800ft, 3 passengers and light rain.

When I levelled off at 3500 I was cruising for about 10 min before I noticed being 10kts slow.

Gear was down.

One or 2 factors out of the normal and something gets missed easily.

Positive rate, gear up

always run flows and follow it up with a check (not do) list

Forget anything or checklist not complete, or THINK you might have forgot something, go around

Every approach is mentally to a go around by default

Yep, that's all great advice. That said, without the discipline to handle the gear correctly......it's a crap shoot. And, there are frequently distractions.

Positive rate/gear up is a great mantra......unless you're flying a Beaver on early Bristol Aero amphibious floats. Retracting that gear requires you to select gear up, then pump it up with a rather large lever between the pilot and copilot seat. Not the monkey motion you want to be doing three feet off the surface.

So, in THAT airplane, it was pitch for climb, level at 200 feet if practical, THEN raise the gear.

But, whatever your procedure, follow it, always.

MTV

It’s not that hard to follow a quick checklist, should obviously be done prior to pattern entry. Simple…

Four Blue for the water

Four Green for the runway.

AKJurnee wrote:It’s not that hard to follow a quick checklist, should obviously be done prior to pattern entry. Simple…

Four Blue for the water

Four Green for the runway.

In water (salt water?) micro switches we trust?

NineThreeKilo wrote:
In water (salt water?) micro switches we trust?

Whips uses proximity sensors, but what evah. Use your mirrors.