I recently received my complex endorsement and decided to start building time toward my commercial pilot certificate in a Piper Arrow. I had checked out in the retractable-gear single from Lemay Aero Club at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. I planned a trip from Offutt AFB to Denton, Texas, to visit family while building complex time.
With my in-laws along for the ride, I filed IFR to Denton with a fuel stop at Ponca City, Oklahoma. The flight to Denton was uneventful. After a short but great visit with some family, I filed a flight plan back to Offutt AFB, and arrived at the Denton airport about 6:30 p.m. to preflight the aircraft. During the preflight I added a quart of oil and looked over the engine. Those who have experience with Arrows know that you have to remove the upper cowl to get a look at the engine. I didn’t have a funnel to add oil so I thought it would be a good chance to check brake fluid, add the oil, and do a general look-over of the engine and components. When the cowl was reinstalled I double-checked the alignment pins and fasteners.
As I continued on with the checklist, everything was as it should be. After fueling and loading my in-laws we headed down Bravo taxiway to Runway 35 for the runup. During the taxi I noticed a beeping noise that sounded like an ELT transmission. I thought it might have been from another aircraft that was on the ramp, so I continued to the runway. After takeoff I contacted departure control and found out that the ELT signal was from my aircraft (which was odd because my landings were not bad). The beeping was so loud that I turned around and landed back at Denton to investigate the ELT. I gained access to the ELT and pressed the reset button. When the radios were turned back on the beeping was gone.
We continued on with our trip. On the second takeoff everything was going as planned. While climbing out, the landing gear in-transition light came on for about 30 seconds and then went out. After reaching our cruise altitude of 5,000 feet, I decided to cycle the gear to see if that would solve the in-transition light problem (of course, below extension/retraction speed limits). After I received three green, no red, and no yellow lights on gear extension, I saw the right side of the cowl starting to lift.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. With the left side of the cowl still attached, the right side started to violently beat back and forth for approximately 30 seconds, shattering both front windows. After the cowl finally ripped off, I realized what happened and started looking for an airport to land. With the wind blowing into the aircraft, I saw the Gainesville airport directly ahead of me. I called air traffic control to tell them I was landing, but it was too noisy inside to hear the response. I then squawked 7700, continued with the checklist items, and landed successfully at Gainesville.
Many airplanes, the Arrow included, have tricky cowling latches. Trying to latch the cowling is the first step to ensuring it’s closed. Each airplane has a different technique to check and make sure the cowling is closed. Whether it’s giving it a tap, pulling on the levers, or twisting the knobs, make sure not to skip this step.
I have almost 10 years of aircraft maintenance behind me and think I am at least somewhat mechanically inclined. I deal with cowls almost every day on KC-135R aircraft. You have to be ready for anything. This is the last thing I thought would happen. Pilots might expect engine failures, gear failures, communication failures, or other common incidents, but we always should expect the unexpected.
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