Gear alarm

[Joshua Blackh4t]

My most disliked feature of my E is the gear alarm.

It goes off on almost every flight. The E has a 105kt gear speed and no brakes, so its painful to get that slow with power on.

The worst is when I'm with passengers and trying to get down under some clouds with a bit of turbulence and then alarms going off, they start getting a bit worried.

SO..... are there any options?

I don't want to disconnect it because it might save me one day, but I'd love a 30 second cancel button.

OR could I get it set on the airspeed instead? Below 80kts with gear up never happens except maybe on take off, but I can avoid that.

How do others deal with it?

Its set to 15 inches, but she can almost straight and level at 15 inches. I could bend the switch for a lower setting but would rather a better option.

[ArtVandelay]

You can adjust it, it’s just a couple of screws.

[jamesm]

I believe that it should be set to trigger at 10" of map.  at least in 67C that is what I remember what it is set to. see attached for 67'C Owners Manual (aka POH).

There are adjustments for this as the previous mentioned . Hopefully the last guy left them at an accessible  position for adjustment.

without having to pull out the radio stack.

 

Hope this helps,

James

[WilliamR]

Few options:

1. check micro-switch on throttle is not adjusted to go off too high although even with the micro switch correctly adjusted, I have this problem on Cs and Es

2. with power set for alarm not to go off, dip a little below intended altitude then slowly climb back up to intended altitude reducing speed to below Vle (assumes VFR with ample altitude)

3. assuming gear is manual, reach into gear down block/socket and press microswitch silencing alarm until Vle

4. buy different airplane that isn't so hard to slow down below Vle (not recommended)

 

William

 

[Joshua Blackh4t]

Thanks,

I set it to the lowest if can go, but looks like bending the spring to get it down to 10 inches is required.

I like the option of holding the switch, i have done that at times.

Refuse to sell the plane just for gear warning, the rest is lovely

[jamesm]

You may want to confirm that 'E' model uses the same setting. I can see why it wouldn't but there could be a reason for it.   It's probably a #6 slotted screw head and  I think it's a 1/4" nut. You just need to break them loose.  sorry I can't seem to find pictures of the switch but if I do I will add them.

[A64Pilot]

I find descending below target altitude then climbing back up with power back kills speed quickly, mine alarms close to 15”. I have a higher gear speed but won’t drop them until the white arc as I believe my lower gear doors put a significant load on the system at higher speeds, hence the descent and climb, try it it works well

[RobertGary1]

1 hour ago, A64Pilot said:

I find descending below target altitude then climbing back up with power back kills speed quickly, mine alarms close to 15”. I have a higher gear speed but won’t drop them until the white arc as I believe my lower gear doors put a significant load on the system at higher speeds, hence the descent and climb, try it it works well

15” sounds like it’s out of adjustment 

[N201MKTurbo]

If you can't get the switch adjusted low enough, readjust the linkage on the end of the throttle cable at the servo.

[A64Pilot]

12 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

15” sounds like it’s out of adjustment 

Maybe but I’m not messing with it, I don’t need to be all the way to idle with the gear up anyway, and I doubt it’s been touched since it was built which means likely as not I’d break it.

[A64Pilot]

18 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

If you can't get the switch adjusted low enough, readjust the linkage on the end of the throttle cable at the servo.

If you do that, ensure you have “cushion” on the throttle, meaning be sure you hit the servo stop well prior to hitting cable stop on both ends.

[Ragsf15e]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:23 PM, Joshua Blackh4t said:

Thanks,

I set it to the lowest if can go, but looks like bending the spring to get it down to 10 inches is required.

I like the option of holding the switch, i have done that at times.

Refuse to sell the plane just for gear warning, the rest is lovely

Obviously you want the alarm adjusted properly. Definitely below 15”.

The other technique @A64Pilot mentioned works well to slow down.  Descend, level off, pull up very slightly with the low power setting.  You will quickly slow and be able to drop the gear.  But I have an F with 120mph gear speed so what do I know?

[PT20J]

If it's the Micky Mouse arrangement on the throttle like on my M20J, it's a pain to get it just where you want it. I went up and set up in the landing configuration and figured out where I wanted the throttle to be positioned when it went off and then marked the throttle shaft with a sharpie. Back on the ground, I could fiddle with the switch adjustment until the switch would close when the throttle it the mark.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

If it's the Micky Mouse arrangement on the throttle like on my M20J, it's a pain to get it just where you want it. I went up and set up in the landing configuration and figured out where I wanted the throttle to be positioned when it went off and then marked the throttle shaft with a sharpie. Back on the ground, I could fiddle with the switch adjustment until the switch would close when the throttle it the mark.

I iterated on the adjustment on mine a few times and just settled that it's not very precise, and it has a huge amount of hysteresis.  I think it comes on at about 12-13" and won't go back off until about 15" or so.    So to shut it up when you're trying to descend and slow down you have to add a fair amount of power, which just adds to the annoyance. 

[PT20J]

50 minutes ago, EricJ said:

I iterated on the adjustment on mine a few times and just settled that it's not very precise, and it has a huge amount of hysteresis.  I think it comes on at about 12-13" and won't go back off until about 15" or so.    So to shut it up when you're trying to descend and slow down you have to add a fair amount of power, which just adds to the annoyance. 

Yes, it’s a kludge.