Gear up protection

[kortopates]

Mooney could also bring back the "D" model conversion kit for all models. No more gear ups, period.
Clarence

Putting the training wheels back on would get an insurance discount! And probably make it slower than a Cirrus - yuck

[gsengle]

Putting the training wheels back on would get an insurance discount! And probably make it slower than a Cirrus - yuck

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[Brandontwalker]

Putting the training wheels back on would get an insurance discount! And probably make it slower than a Cirrus - yuck

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[EricJ]

23 hours ago, kortopates said:

Exactly, as I recall the Piper "automatic gear" had a AD's against it to remove it after the system killed a number of people because pilots weren't adequately trained in their use. There must of been some option in the AD to keep it, perhaps with the following mod. The ones I flew had a floor switch to deactivate the system when you were flying very slowly, e.g., departing a high density altitude airport and initially climbing out at Vx for terrain. I just don't know if that was a mod required by the AD or if it was always there.

The little defeat lever for the automatic extension was there from the factory, at least on Arrow IIs.  Basically the backup extension switch gets pushed down to extend the gear, and pulled up to lock the gear up and defeat the auto-extension.  The POH describes the process, and describes that if you need to do a water landing or a rough terrain landing you can lock the gear up this way.

That said, the Arrow that I fly has the auto-extend defeated, and I've always thought it would be really in the way if it was still active.   I believe the gear horn comes on the same time as the auto-extend would deploy the gear, and it would be pretty intrusive.   e.g., IIRC best glide speed is 105mph with the gear up, and the auto-extend speed was also 105mph.   So right when you'd be trying to get a nice glide going the gear would pop down and cut the glide ratio in half.  I'm glad it was removed.

[75_M20F]

On 7/20/2017 at 3:08 PM, Bob_Belville said:

I have this.

Aircraft Components Inc PN2037 Gear Alert System iaw STC SA01644AT

http://www.flyingsafer.com/p-n-2037.html

I have this system too. It will sound the verbal repeating "CHECK LANDING GEAR" even at a high power setting if you descend below 150 feet AGL. It uses a microwave transmitter on the belly to sense ground proximity. It also replaces the stall "horn" with a verbal repeating "STALL" The factory throttle switch still activates the "CHECK LANDING GEAR" as well. As long as this system is operational I can not imagine anyone would land gear up with a lady screaming "CHECK LANDING GEAR" over and over in their ears.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mooney_Mike

[Tommy]

On 7/22/2017 at 1:44 AM, EricJ said:

The little defeat lever for the automatic extension was there from the factory, at least on Arrow IIs.  Basically the backup extension switch gets pushed down to extend the gear, and pulled up to lock the gear up and defeat the auto-extension.  The POH describes the process, and describes that if you need to do a water landing or a rough terrain landing you can lock the gear up this way.

That said, the Arrow that I fly has the auto-extend defeated, and I've always thought it would be really in the way if it was still active.   I believe the gear horn comes on the same time as the auto-extend would deploy the gear, and it would be pretty intrusive.   e.g., IIRC best glide speed is 105mph with the gear up, and the auto-extend speed was also 105mph.   So right when you'd be trying to get a nice glide going the gear would pop down and cut the glide ratio in half.  I'm glad it was removed.

Ideally, the auto-extend feature should be tied to at least another parameter or two - for e.g: aircraft configuration / power setting etc - and not just to the airspeed. 

[EricJ]

11 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Ideally, the auto-extend feature should be tied to at least another parameter or two - for e.g: aircraft configuration / power setting etc - and not just to the airspeed. 

It is.  Without looking at the POH, IIRC, it's 15" MP or something like that.   

Edited July 24, 2017 by EricJ