1998 M20R Ovation Gear Retraction Issue

[Dustoff49]

Hello All !  

My first post.   Bought N2126S July 24.  Great flying aircraft !  No issues after pre-buy/Annual June 24.   FL based,  flew to Ocala for Dinner last weekend.  Upon departure the gear would not retract, immediate Gear actuator CB (7.5amp) pops.   Reset tried again and same issue.  No Horn or gear unsafe light.  Flying to home base 15 mins away so left gear down and locked.  And of course seatbelt caught the Emergency Gear Latch... I didn't check it in flight but found it up after landing.  Researched it read the post, etc.   So figured relatching it would fix the issue.   Today I took a quick around the pattern flight and had the same issue.  Retract fail , No horn or gear unsafe light, CB Pops.  Immediately checked that the latch was secure on emergency gear and it was.  Reset it attempted gear down.  Same.   I didn't try the bypass button.  Figured its down and locked.  Back to hangar and going on jack stands.  Any recommendations?   Thanks, Jon L

[N201MKTurbo]

I would pull the handle just a little bit with the latch in the emergency position. It may have got jammed trying to use the motor to raise them with the latch in the wrong position.

[PT20J]

When the actuator breaker pops it's because the motor is jammed. Agree with @N201MKTurbo, but safest thing to do is to put it on jacks and work out the issue there with no loads on the gear. 

[Dustoff49]

I was considering the same jamming issue has happened.   I am hoping nothing was damaged.   I have yet to find an exact explanation or good picture of the small cables the latch and T handle engage.  To be clear  the 'T handle' was never pulled or moved.  But the diagram I have states flipping the latch up vertical is what engages the motor to manually pump the T handle so makes sense this has been jammed.   Thanks !

[PT20J]

To my knowledge the best available drawing of the emergency retraction mechanism in the actuator is in chapter 32 of the Service and Maintenance Manual.

The actuator has two drive systems that drive the same gear train which in turn rotates the ball screw to operate the landing gear: There is the normal motor and the recoil drive for the emergency gear extension. The recoil system is a one way ratcheting design; it can rotate the gear train to lower the gear but not raise it. There is a clutch to engage the recoil mechanism that is engaged by the lever in the cockpit. Because the recoil mechanism can only rotate in the down direction, it will stall the motor if the clutch is engaged and the gear is selected up electrically. The stalled motor draws excessive current and that pops the circuit breaker. 

If properly rigged, the coil spring located on the actuator clutch engagement arm should cause the lever in the cockpit to fully raise when it is unlatched which will in turn fully engage the clutch. If, for some reason the lever is not fully raised and the clutch is only partially engaged, operating the motor can damage the clutch mechanism.

I don't know why replacing the cockpit lever to the locked position will not allow the motor to operate. Usually that clears the problem. But, given that these actuators cost several thousand dollars to repair and parts are in short supply, if it were mine, I would put it on jacks, remove the belly panel and carefully investigate the situation to determine what's hung up.

[Ragsf15e]

I’m curious why the lever on these isn’t pinned with something like a cotter key or one of those breakable zip ties on fire extinguishers - something removable of course.  It seems that unlatching them accidentally happens a lot.

[PT20J]

10 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

I’m curious why the lever on these isn’t pinned with something like a cotter key or one of those breakable zip ties on fire extinguishers - something removable of course.  It seems that unlatching them accidentally happens a lot.

I suspect that when they were new, the spring latch held the handle securely. But, after years of use (the emergency system is supposed to be tested annually) and perhaps people stepping on them, the tang gets bent a bit. Mine is pretty secure. If it seems loose, I'd just bend it back a bit to hold the handle more securely. 

[A64Pilot]

6 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I’m curious why the lever on these isn’t pinned with something like a cotter key or one of those breakable zip ties on fire extinguishers - something removable of course.  It seems that unlatching them accidentally happens a lot.

Good point, one I think worth considering.

Army we used copper safety wire on the emergency door releases on the OH-58 and UH-1 helicopters, worked fine there.

[Slick Nick]

On 2/8/2025 at 9:03 AM, Ragsf15e said:

I’m curious why the lever on these isn’t pinned with something like a cotter key or one of those breakable zip ties on fire extinguishers - something removable of course.  It seems that unlatching them accidentally happens a lot.

Just lift the handle, and bend the little tab back further. I was able to get almost a half inch engagement on mine.