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This incidnet happened in early June, 1956. The training hop started out about as routine as you can get. I was sitting in the right hand crew seat and had been looking for anything unusual for almost four hours but nothing! The PIC came over the intercom announcing it was time to “Head for the Barn” in his vernacular. Up to this point nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. But that was about to change. We made our approach from the southeast for landing. The PIC lowered the landing gear but got a “Gear not Locked” indicator on the nose gear. In those days, a “Gear Down” watch was placed on each runway approach to visually verify that the gear was indeed down. In this instance he reported to the Tower that he the nose gear on our plane was indeed not down. The PIC took a wave off and we climbed to “Angels two”. We still had a lot of fuel onboard so we were order to burn it off. In the mean time we were instructed to try some maneuvers in an attempt to dislodge the nose wheel. Nothing worked! Things were beginning to look grim. Fuel was getting low and there was no solution to our dilemma in sight. We were thinking at that time that our only options were to ditch or attempt a belly landing. Fortunately for us, LTjg Buc was determined not to loose an aircraft. He posed the problem to Chief Brooks, who after some serious thinking, devised a plan. He ordered a nose dolly to be wheeled out to the end of the runway. The PIC was advised to come in slow and hold the nose up. To make sure it stayed up, the ECM Operator and myself were ordered to go as far back into the electronics compartment as we could manage. Why were we ordered to do this you ask? The balance on a “Stoof” is very critical. 150 pounds in the electronics compartment will cause the “Stoof” to be tail heavy. This would keep the tail down on the tail wheel as we taxied down the runway. The PIC was also ordered not to touch his brakes but to taxi to the end of the runway using only his throttles and rudder to control the aircraft. It was a slow and arduous process but the PIC was an experienced pilot. With all the finesse he could muster, the PIC taxied the aircraft slowly up to the nose dolly. When it was in the right position, he was signaled to hit the brakes and chop the throttles. The nosed settled safely onto the dolly. No damage to the aircraft and all hands on board were safe and sound. Submitted by: |
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As related by Bobby G. Lambert, AE1/AC
