P-51D Big Beautiful Doll perfect forced landing in Mesa, AZ

[RyanShort1]

Very nicely handled, and glad to see no one was hurt. I'm neither a pilot nor mechanic, but with an aircraft like the Mustang with an underside radiator is it preferable to put it down on pavement rather than dirt or grass where the scoop could dig in?

SN

You know this happened in AZ right ? There is not a grass strip for at least 2 states away, and the desert is almost as hard as the runway.

Yeah..I've been to Mesa. As you say, it's a bit....parched. I was speaking more in generalities, is it preferable to put a Mustang (or any aircraft) down on pavement if the gear is up?

SN

It is standard procedure and recommendation to land on the flat hard surface. Much safer in general.

[JDK]

is it preferable to put a Mustang (or any aircraft) down on pavement if the gear is up?

It is standard procedure and recommendation to land on the flat hard surface. Much safer in general.

Interesting question, and as usual, Ryan speaks sense.

It's worth mentioning the belly landing of CAC Mustang VH-BOB at Point Cook a few years ago was brought in on a grass runway.

Point Cook is an all over grass airfield, additionally with both hard runways and marked grass runways, so unlike many other places, the pilot had a real choice of a known grass runway as well as a tarmac runway. He elected to use the grass, and like this recent incident we're discussing, the pilot of VH-BOB had a copybook landing, though with more damage to the aircraft.

Video here showing a good deal of detail of the incident, how it was handled from the CFA (Country Fire Authority) point of view, and I share it as it may well inform other decision processes for operators in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze2nEipDLR0

The tarmac the pilot passes just before touchdown is the perimeter track.

As people might wonder as to the state of the Mustang, I'll add a footnote. Bob Eastgate (the owner) points out that then, in 2008, they'd been operating the Mustang for 38 years, and while the damage was not major, Bob decided to have the aircraft completely rebuilt (never having been stripped down before) and it is approaching completion as I write.

If I recall correctly, the problem was a magnesium alloy uplock unit which failed, meaning one gear leg was unable to lower. There was an AD for those with CAC alloy uplocks.

I'll double check the details and amend if there's any errors with this info.

Regards,

[ErrolC]

...
Video here showing a good deal of detail of the incident, how it was handled from the CFA (Country Fire Authority) point of view, and I share it as it may well inform other decision processes for operators in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze2nEipDLR0

The tarmac the pilot passes just before touchdown is the perimeter track.
...

Thanks for that info James. A word of warning, don't read the comments on that YouTube, they will only depress you (which is fairly standard for YT comments I realise, but still...).

I was thinking about this while at Ardmore today, as it has a grass runway parallel to the main. Many factors to consider I'm sure. There were some warbirds pilots there, but I didn't trouble them as they were a bit busy giving Spitfire rides to a couple of WW2 veterans.