A BE33 PLT LANDED GEAR UP AT OCEANO; CA (L52).

Narrative

OUR FLT ORIGINATED AT MRY; VFR TO OCEANO ARPT (L52). UPON ARRIVING; I TOOK NOTE OF THE WX DESCRIBED ABOVE. THE BROKEN LAYER WAS DIRECTLY OVER THE FIELD AND BECAME SCATTERED ABOUT 1 NM INLAND. ALSO; THE LOW SUN AND REFLECTION FROM THE OCEAN COMBINED WITH THE HAZE MADE RWY ACQUISITION DIFFICULT. FURTHER; THERE WAS A HELI IN THE PATTERN DOING TOUCH-AND-GOES. I ENTERED A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 29 AT 1400 FT; ABOVE THE BROKEN PORTION OF THE LAYER; LOWERED THE LNDG GEAR AND DID THE LNDG CHKLIST. I TURNED TO BASE; THEN FINAL. AFTER A FEW SECONDS WITHOUT A RWY OR TFC IN SIGHT; I EXECUTED A GAR AND RPTED IT TO THE HELI TFC. I TURNED L TO A DOWNWIND AND CONSIDERED GOING TO ANOTHER ARPT. JUST THEN; A RADIO XMISSION INDICATED THAT IF I FLY TO THE MESA; THEN TURN TOWARD THE TRAILER HOME PARK; I WILL BE LINED UP WITH RWY 29. I SAW THE MESA LOW AND L AND THE TRAILER PARK OVER MY L SHOULDER AND DECIDED TO MAKE A SECOND ATTEMPT. DURING THE L TURN OVER THE MESA; I THOUGHT I HAD LOWERED THE GEAR; BUT WAS DISTR BY A TFC CALL FROM THE HELI. I DIRECTED MY ATTN OUTSIDE TO ACQUIRE THE RWY AND THE TFC. AT ABOUT 1 NM; I ACQUIRED THE RWY; RPTED MY INTENT TO LAND AND LOWERED THE FLAPS. I QUICKLY SCANNED THE PANEL FOR RED LIGHTS THEN LOOKED OUTSIDE FOR THE TFC; NO RED LIGHTS WERE NOTED. DURING THE FLARE I HEARD SCRAPING SOUNDS AND DETERMINED THAT A GAR ATTEMPT MIGHT BE DANGEROUS AT 60-65 MPH AS WE MAY TORQUE ROLL OR HAVE A PROP STRIKE. I SET IT DOWN GENTLY; CLOSED THE THROTTLE AND MIXTURE AND SLID TO A STOP WHERE WE EVACED. THE GEAR WARNING HORN DID NOT SOUND WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS CLOSED. THE DIFFICULTY OF RWY AND TFC ACQUISITION WAS ENOUGH OF A DISTR TO STRAY ME FROM NORMAL PROCS AND THE GEAR WARNING HORN FAILURE LED TO THIS UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 523966: FIRST; I FAILED TO MENTION THAT AFTER LNDG; I FOUND THE GEAR SWITCH TO BE IN THE UP POS. IN A WAY OF RECOMMENDATIONS; PERHAPS A TEST SWITCH TO ENSURE THE GEAR WARNING HORN IS OPERATIONAL.