I was there. Here's what I would have done: Exactly what Kram did. End of story. You can't set it up for landing any better than he did. Unless you've seen this plane up close, you don't have any idea how massive it is. For reference, it is proportionately larger than a Yellow P-38 on the same order that a Yellow is bigger than a KMP.

As a fellow warbird flyer and I watched this unfold (with a sickening feel in the pit of our stomachs), we discussed Kram's options (quietly and from a distance, he had plenty of help). Yes, the beans seemed inviting, but you also have to realize this field is very wide. To put it in the beans would have required almost a 45 degree approach relative to the runway centerline to hit the "sweet" spot in the beans. This would have put Kram a LONG way from his pilot station and in my opinion, it would have been impossible to accurately judge the flare.

While the "dropping the gear just above the ground" thing sounds intriguing, I really don't think it is practical. Fiddling with the retract switch a few feet above flare will likely result in something more awful than just driving it in, either gear up or down.

As we drove home that afternoon, my friend (a fabulous warbird builder and pilot who has flown virtually every warbird with wings over the last 20 years) and I rehashed this. He has a saying "Sometimes, it be that way." He believes you make the best decision you can at the time and not worry about it. This is the same guy who intentionally strained a 100 inch Royal Corsair with a stuck wide open throttle through a tree and a chain link fence after he flew it for 20 minutes and realized the battery was going to die before the fuel would run out. Rather than take a chance trying to impact the runway (he was in front of a couple of thousand people at the time), he pointed it into the trees and fence at far end of the field and let events run their course. He said it was an easy decision. Years later, he said "I don't want any of my planes to out live me."

All alternatives in this kind of situation are the "lesser of evils" sort. Kram did the "least evil" in my opinion and did it as well as it could be done.


LarryS