Don't you just love the sound landing gear makes as it extends into the slipstream? What a delightful sound to hear an electro-hydraulic landing gear system dutifully spring to life as the gear lever is moved to the down position. The sounds of machinery and slipstream noise... these are the sounds pilots like. Slipstream noise increases to a low roar as the gear clunks into locked position. Three green indicator lights illuminate as one red light extinguishes in the cockpit, and you've got wheels beneath you. Major cool.
I use the phrase, "Three green, no red" when verifying the landing gear is ready for landing. "Three green" means, of course, all three wheels are extended and locked. "No red" means the red "Gear Unsafe" light has extinguished indicating the gear has completed the extension cycle and is no longer in transition, and that the gear pumps are off. I vocalize this phrase at least three times before landing; once after the cycle has completed, once or twice during intermediate approach (i.e. on downwind and base or a two mile final), and finally once when "crossing the fence" on short final. This system of redundant gear position checks ensures I will never commit the dreaded gear-up landing.
Luckily, gear-up landing accidents do not normally involve injuries to the occupants of the airplane. The only injury is typically to the pilot's ego and to his airplane. Engine (and propeller) damage can result from a prop strike, and flaps (when extended in a low-wing airplane) and the underside of the airplane will certainly take a beating. The worst thing about these accidents happening, though, is how preventable they are. Landing gear-up is downright silly, especially in airplanes with landing gear warning systems. In the Piper Arrow I used to fly a gear warning horn would blare and a red "Gear Unsafe" light would illuminate when the manifold pressure was reduced beyond a certain value or other parameters were met if the gear wasn't down. Even with a headset on, I don't know how any pilot could miss that. But pilots have. I once saw a video shot from the backseat of a light retractable gear airplane where the gear warning horn sounded for a matter of minutes before the airplane landed gear-up on the runway. The two "pilots" in front were chatting over the warning horn throughout the entire approach (maybe they'll read my "Sterile Cockpit" post). These individuals obviously weren't using checklists either.
I've never met a pilot who wasn't familiar with the acronym "GUMPS"; gas, undercarriage, mixture, props and pumps, seatbelts and switches. This universal Before Landing Checklist works fairly well in many light airplanes and includes the landing gear as a checklist item. Standardizing when and where the GUMPS or Before Landing Checklist is performed, and therefore where the gear is extended, helps to guard against forgetting to extend the gear during approach. I always perform the checklist and extend the gear on mid-field downwind. If I'm on a straight-in I'll use altitude as my checklist cue; when descending through 1,000 feet above touchdown zone the checklist is completed and the gear is lowered. By standardizing the point at which your checklist is conducted you're conditioning yourself to feel anxious if that point has passed and the checklist has not yet been completed (i.e. if you forgot). The feeling of unease should then prompt you to perform the checklist. There's a saying in aviation, "Only the paranoid survive." I don't know if paranoid is the right word, but certainly only the cautious and conscientious survive.
Let's all be careful out there and work together to reduce the number of gear-up landing accidents that occur each year. That seems like an easy one to knock out because preventing these accidents is so easily within our immediate control. I've mentioned listening to your airplane in a previous post. Well, listening to your airplane applies here too in a much more literal way. If you hear your landing gear warning system hollering at you, listen up and fix the problem! You'll instantly be treated to that wonderful sound of in-transit gear and increasing slipstream noise.
