A Good Landing Is One You Can Walkaway
 

Had a flying lesson today teaching a friends 14 year old son. Second lesson for him in a 1942 Piper L4(cub). I had him taxi today and he did most of the run up, mags and carb heat. I discussed emergency exiting the plane if we had to put it in a field. He was to follow me through on the take off. We go full throttle on a grass runway that I must have 5000 landings on. As we lift off (40 mph)the left landing gear bungee strut broke in half, the left wing drops as I pull back and we are airborne. I knew we were SOL when I could not see the left landing gear. This L4 has no radio so I call my buddy On the cell phone and ask for a visual inspection as I make several low passes down the runway. He confirmed what I knew, he owned the plane so I thought I should consult him as the owner and as E.R. Doctor I wanted him at the CRASH site. At this time a small crowd was watching us and appears to signal us not to land as they can see the gear hanging oddly down. I make several approaches to let every know I intend on putting it down in the grass. I hand my phone to my student so he could talk to his dad prior to our landing. I instruct my student to turn off the mags on my command and brace for an impact. I set up a long final on the grass,( my mind was in hyper mode) and call out KILL THE MAGS as the mains are hovering the grass. The prop stops horizontal we ride it out straight for 150 feet and we spin 120 degrees to the left as the left wing barley brushes the grass and we slide to a stop. I turn every thing OFF as we bail out and walked away. The crowd starts gather and my buddy shakes my hand and GOOD LANDING. Seconds later a guy puts a phone in my face and says you gotta watch your landing on video. I watch it several times and we all make jokes and laugh. Now we turn our attention to the L4. The only damage to the plane was the initial problem the bungee strut. No damage to the wing, it was 3 inches from the ground. The crowd raised the wing and strapped the gear together and we pushed it to the hanger. I asked my buddy if he was OK and he said he felt so lucky that he was going to purchase some lottery tickets tonight. The guy with the video has a Motorola Droid phone and we were unable to get the video on to a computer, we will try to copy the video in a few days. I had 2 more flights after this one today.

Wow! Great story. How did the kid fare during all this?

No injuries and we are picking up a Stinson L5 on Sunday and he called dibs on the first ride once we get it home.

Great story, gotta love a happy ending. Any word on why the strut broke?

And I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't wait for that video!

Wow!
Can you post the video?!
Glad no one was hurt, not even the aircraft..

I learned to fly in an old cub. The bungees gave a lot of trouble back then. They were probably used more for trainers back then though. They put a safety cable around the bungee so that if it broke, the safety cable would catch it, and a rough but damage free landing could be made.

Sounds like u did a great job of bringing the a/c down in one piece. You are one cool dude!:)

Great story! Can't wait to see the video!

Great job. It pays to stay cool under pressure and have a plan.

Well done, that should make for a good story for years to come.

I wish I knew what a bungee gear was. Glad you made it down safely. Did you balance on the remaining gear? Sorry if that seems obvious, but I don't fly.

Just email the video.

The bungee strut is like a sideways car shock that holds the landing gear in place and allows limited wheel travel as the gear compresses on landing. The L4 was on all 3 wheels, it is just that one wheel was 4 feet from where it was suppose to be and holding almost no weight at a 70 degree angle from where it started.

Well done, Sir.

Nothing like an in-flight emergency to spice up a flight!

Again, nicely done.

Nice job..... I am quite sure you were expecting a mangled airplane or at least a wing tip and a prop strike when you were done.

Great job, that is just fantastic - I hope you made the news. GA needs all the good story line it can get.

You gotta love grass and slow landing aircraft.

Great story, better landing, even better outcome. Glad you and he are okay!

If you haven't already - fill out an ASRS form immediately. I wouldn't put it past the feds to look to nail you for improper preflight or some such nonsense. I don't trust the FAA any further than I can throw it. Just my $0.02.

Ace, Pace and Grace.