How to belly- land a P-51D. 1960s style!

[T J Johansen]

Can't remember seeing this video here before, so here it is. Lynn Garrison bellying in 44-74813 at Canastota, NY in 1961.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l8WU-6kqnU

T J

[Ken]

Looked like he did a nice job.

[Xrayist]

Serious question...I am not a pilot, have never been in such a situation, but I have often wondered why the pilots in some of these belly landings, doesn't shut the engine down before he makes contact with the ground? It would seem to me that a lot less damage could occur to the engine and or prop if this was done. Again, just curious.

[hbtcoveralls]

[quote="Xrayist"]Serious question...I am not a pilot, have never been in such a situation, but I have often wondered why the pilots in some of these belly landings, doesn't shut the engine down before he makes contact with the ground? It would seem to me that a lot less damage could occur to the engine and or prop if this was done. Again, just curious.[/quote

In a single engine airplane, the propeller will continue to turn even though the engine is not developing power (there are exceptions like catastrophic engine failure in an aircraft with direct drive of the propeller) so just because the propeller is windmilling doesn't mean the engine isn't shut down.

There is a technique for bringing the prop to a stop that I've read about but it can have aerodynamic consequences.

In Multi-engine aircraft a propeller can be feathered to stop the rotation of the dead engine, although if you feathered both props before the landing you loose any chance of a go around and by shutting down your engines you may lose important systems like hydraulics.
Tom Bowers

[DH82EH]

Tom makes some really good points.
Another significant consideration, is the fact that you are carrying out an unusual maneuver already. The last thing you want to do is start adding in more unknown variables in to this equation. As much as people don't want bent metal, the most important thing is getting the occupants down and out safely.
Everything else is secondary.
The plane can be fixed!
In the case of this gear up landing, you are going to have a prop strike and a shock loaded engine regardless.
Fly it all the way through the crash!

Andy

[CAPFlyer]

This came up recently during an informal AAR by bystanders after a Baron gear-up landing I witnessed the aftermath of. One thing brought up was that the FAA looks very poorly on the idea of shutting down a working engine because of what has been said above - you remove your option to go around if something happens on short final. You take an emergency landing and turn it into a forced landing or crash, and that's not considered Good Airmanship.

As one of the guys said from his own experience having bellied in a plane - there's a reason you carry insurance. If you're going to have to use it, use it fully.

[mlenoch]

From Xrayist:Serious question...I am not a pilot, have never been in such a situation, but I have often wondered why the pilots in some of these belly landings, doesn't shut the engine down before he makes contact with the ground? It would seem to me that a lot less damage could occur to the engine and or prop if this was done. Again, just curious.

Good question...........
I have had a few P-51 'dead-stick landings. In each of these, there was enough air-speed turning the 'airscrew' to keeping it spinning. I did not concern myself with stopping the propeller in each case - obviously there was no need with gear down and a runway landing assured. Curiously, in one instance, once the aircraft came to a stop on the runway, the propeller came to a 'hard' stop that shook the airframe, as the internal engine damage seized the crank shaft yet the propeller was spinning on final approach and rollout.
V

[bdk]

One of 75 Mustangs surplused by RCAF: July 27, 1961: Lynn Garrison experiences hydraulic failure and engine overheat, with low fuel on non-radio ferry flight from storage site at RCAF Station Picton, Ontario to Canastota, New York. Aircraft suffered minimal damage and now flies as N151BW Cripes A' Mighty

How does a hydraulic failure on a P-51 keep the main gear from coming down? The uplocks are mechanical!

[Jollygreenslugg]

The aeroplane on the ground at 0:45 almost looks like a P-51H. That couldn't be right, could it?

Cheers,
Matt

[C VEICH]

The aeroplane on the ground at 0:45 almost looks like a P-51H. That couldn't be right, could it?

Cheers,
Matt

Nope, definitely a D model. (Or I suppose a K is possible but not likely.)