Airmail
Daryl Dickerson was bringing his small plane in for a landing in Grants Pass, Ore., when the plane’s electrical system failed, taking out the radio and landing gear motor. Dickerson found something to write on — airsick bags — scribbled a note: “Is our gear down and locked?” and dropped the bag to people on the ground. They signaled to him no, the gear was not down. “We knew we were in trouble,” Dickerson said later. He sent down another note: “Send the [airsick] bags back, we might need them.” Dickerson managed to land the plane safely, though, by putting the gear down manually. (AP) ...Quick: play your tail number in the lottery.
Publication Date: 27 July 1996
This story is in True's book collection:
Volume 3, Page 18
On 26 October 2006, I received this letter about the above story:
I just read my story in your [archive] and thought I'd offer an explanation as to why we had no electrical power and why we had a nearly impossible time getting the gear down with the emergency lever. Unlike many planes, the Piper Comanche which we were flying has to be put up on jacks to disengage the landing gear once the emergency lever has been used. It was only then that the mechanic saw the bullet hole! We'd been shot! It seems we had wandered a little too far west of the practice area and out over the Kalamiopsis wilderness, which is known locally as the 'pot growing capital of Oregon', and were evidently mistaken for a spotter plane. Thank goodness the bullet went dead center into the plane, cutting the cable which runs from the battery in the tail to the alternator up front, and then hitting and kinking the emergency gear lever linkage, because if it had been 3 inches to the right or left, one of us would have taken it in the rear end! I still fly over the Wilderness enroute to the coast, but now it's a lot higher and a lot faster!Daryl Dickerson
alias "barf bag boy"
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