Narrative:

Pilot was flying locally on a good VFR day. Concluding the flight, pilot asked for a touch-and-go (for practice). Landing went well, flaps came up, pwred up and started rotation. Pilot engaged wheels up level low to ground, plane settled enough for a propeller strike (right). Continued touch-and-go with right engine fully working but wheels were in 1/2 position. Pilot initiated manual extension. Wheels came down. Did a fly-by for tower to check condition of wheels. Tower said that wheels appeared to be down. Pilot checked for visual indicator of nosewheel -- it showed position down. Pilot landed without incident. Actions taken after initial incident were very smooth without panic, no emergency was declared, no fire equipment was called. Judgements made were well based. If gear utilized ground proximity detectors (set to a diminimous AGL) in a lockout (before up) and/or warning (if low and not down), then such an incident could not happen. The system (in series) should allow pilot to override the lockout/warning system. Such a system would not be so overly expensive to have installed (when considering that such an aircraft costs about $1,000,000 new).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PVT PLT OF A BEECH BARON, BE58, LOST TEMPORARY CTL OF THE ACFT DURING A TOUCH-AND-GO TKOF WHEN LEVELING OFF TOO EARLY AFTER RETRACTING THE LNDG GEAR CAUSING A PROP STRIKE.

Narrative: PLT WAS FLYING LOCALLY ON A GOOD VFR DAY. CONCLUDING THE FLT, PLT ASKED FOR A TOUCH-AND-GO (FOR PRACTICE). LNDG WENT WELL, FLAPS CAME UP, PWRED UP AND STARTED ROTATION. PLT ENGAGED WHEELS UP LEVEL LOW TO GND, PLANE SETTLED ENOUGH FOR A PROP STRIKE (R). CONTINUED TOUCH-AND-GO WITH R ENG FULLY WORKING BUT WHEELS WERE IN 1/2 POS. PLT INITIATED MANUAL EXTENSION. WHEELS CAME DOWN. DID A FLY-BY FOR TWR TO CHK CONDITION OF WHEELS. TWR SAID THAT WHEELS APPEARED TO BE DOWN. PLT CHKED FOR VISUAL INDICATOR OF NOSEWHEEL -- IT SHOWED POS DOWN. PLT LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. ACTIONS TAKEN AFTER INITIAL INCIDENT WERE VERY SMOOTH WITHOUT PANIC, NO EMER WAS DECLARED, NO FIRE EQUIP WAS CALLED. JUDGEMENTS MADE WERE WELL BASED. IF GEAR UTILIZED GND PROX DETECTORS (SET TO A DIMINIMOUS AGL) IN A LOCKOUT (BEFORE UP) AND/OR WARNING (IF LOW AND NOT DOWN), THEN SUCH AN INCIDENT COULD NOT HAPPEN. THE SYS (IN SERIES) SHOULD ALLOW PLT TO OVERRIDE THE LOCKOUT/WARNING SYS. SUCH A SYS WOULD NOT BE SO OVERLY EXPENSIVE TO HAVE INSTALLED (WHEN CONSIDERING THAT SUCH AN ACFT COSTS ABOUT $1,000,000 NEW).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.