Narrative:

I departed sat en route to elp. Due to in-flight performance it appeared something was causing excessive drag on the aircraft which I believed to be either wind or the landing gear not retracted, or both. I decided to land at fort stockton, and after putting the gear lever in the down position, I did not hear or feel gear going down, nor did this action result in an airspeed change as would be expected. When I checked the gear hand crank I saw it was jammed by my pilot materials bag and strap. Having no gear lights, I informed fort stockton unicom of the problem and subsequently did 3 fly-by's to ascertain the position of the gear. It appeared to be down. Upon landing, the main gear partially collapsed and the nose gear totally collapsed. An inspection of the aircraft determined that the pilot bag behind the front seats somehow became bound in the hand crank and rendered the gear system unusable. A gear retraction test had been done in sat after the aircraft had been painted. Somehow, the hand crank became unstowed. The time and reasons are unknown to me. Upon investigation of the incident, it was determined that the hand crank cover was not installed and to my knowledge has not been since I purchased the aircraft. A recurrence of this problem might be avoided by including the landing gear handle check in the 'before takeoff' section of the checklist rather than in the 'before start' section, and also by taking position steps to assume that the hand crank cover is installed. In addition, due to a change in the aircraft registration #, the proper forms were processed by the FAA and forwarded by me to the paint shop which failed to installed them in the aircraft. The appropriate registration documents have since been recovered and placed on board.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA SMA LANDED WITH GEAR PARTIALLY EXTENDED. MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED PART WAY AND THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED COMPLETELY AFTER LNDG.

Narrative: I DEPARTED SAT ENRTE TO ELP. DUE TO INFLT PERFORMANCE IT APPEARED SOMETHING WAS CAUSING EXCESSIVE DRAG ON THE ACFT WHICH I BELIEVED TO BE EITHER WIND OR THE LNDG GEAR NOT RETRACTED, OR BOTH. I DECIDED TO LAND AT FORT STOCKTON, AND AFTER PUTTING THE GEAR LEVER IN THE DOWN POS, I DID NOT HEAR OR FEEL GEAR GOING DOWN, NOR DID THIS ACTION RESULT IN AN AIRSPD CHANGE AS WOULD BE EXPECTED. WHEN I CHKED THE GEAR HAND CRANK I SAW IT WAS JAMMED BY MY PLT MATERIALS BAG AND STRAP. HAVING NO GEAR LIGHTS, I INFORMED FORT STOCKTON UNICOM OF THE PROB AND SUBSEQUENTLY DID 3 FLY-BY'S TO ASCERTAIN THE POS OF THE GEAR. IT APPEARED TO BE DOWN. UPON LNDG, THE MAIN GEAR PARTIALLY COLLAPSED AND THE NOSE GEAR TOTALLY COLLAPSED. AN INSPECTION OF THE ACFT DETERMINED THAT THE PLT BAG BEHIND THE FRONT SEATS SOMEHOW BECAME BOUND IN THE HAND CRANK AND RENDERED THE GEAR SYS UNUSABLE. A GEAR RETRACTION TEST HAD BEEN DONE IN SAT AFTER THE ACFT HAD BEEN PAINTED. SOMEHOW, THE HAND CRANK BECAME UNSTOWED. THE TIME AND REASONS ARE UNKNOWN TO ME. UPON INVESTIGATION OF THE INCIDENT, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE HAND CRANK COVER WAS NOT INSTALLED AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE HAS NOT BEEN SINCE I PURCHASED THE ACFT. A RECURRENCE OF THIS PROB MIGHT BE AVOIDED BY INCLUDING THE LNDG GEAR HANDLE CHK IN THE 'BEFORE TKOF' SECTION OF THE CHKLIST RATHER THAN IN THE 'BEFORE START' SECTION, AND ALSO BY TAKING POSITION STEPS TO ASSUME THAT THE HAND CRANK COVER IS INSTALLED. IN ADDITION, DUE TO A CHANGE IN THE ACFT REGISTRATION #, THE PROPER FORMS WERE PROCESSED BY THE FAA AND FORWARDED BY ME TO THE PAINT SHOP WHICH FAILED TO INSTALLED THEM IN THE ACFT. THE APPROPRIATE REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS HAVE SINCE BEEN RECOVERED AND PLACED ON BOARD.

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.