Narrative:

Was in air to conduct engine checks after re-pitching propeller and adjusting carburetors on a rotax 912 uls engine; at last minute decided to do water skip and go landing on a river north of my home field. Usually retracted gear on takeoff and rechecked configuration of gear to be sure it was up on downwind and final when landing in the water. This time my attention was distracted due to watching for boat wakes and logs in river and I failed to ensure I had gear in proper position. When I touched down the plane submarined and I was swimming. If I had used my checklist to ensure the gear was in correct position I would not have to repair the plane. If I had gear lights I might have detected the incorrect position before touchdown.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Progressive Aerodyne Searey pilot forgot to raise the landing gear before doing a river skip and go so that when he touched down the aircraft pitched over and filled with water.

Narrative: Was in air to conduct engine checks after re-pitching propeller and adjusting carburetors on a Rotax 912 ULS engine; at last minute decided to do water skip and go landing on a river north of my home field. Usually retracted gear on takeoff and rechecked configuration of gear to be sure it was up on downwind and final when landing in the water. This time my attention was distracted due to watching for boat wakes and logs in river and I failed to ensure I had gear in proper position. When I touched down the plane submarined and I was swimming. If I had used my checklist to ensure the gear was in correct position I would not have to repair the plane. If I had gear lights I might have detected the incorrect position before touchdown.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.