They add a year or to the normal build time, but they look soooooooooo clean in flight w/o all that stuff hanging out there. John's is a perfect example, his is reliable and relatively light. I weighted mine after fabrication and the assy weighed the same as stock gears with my compressor and plastic air tubing and controls it's about 7 lbs heavier. They deploy by gravity. Allot of work to fit them up is required.
KRron ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colin & Bev Rainey" <[email protected]> To: "KRnet" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 7:35 PM Subject: KR> Retracts > Netters > > I am going to say something here that I hope doesn't offend. There is NO > WAY you can get a retract gear system that is safe and relaible to weigh > as little as my Dan Diehl fixed gear system. Common sense tells you that > you have to have just as strong main gear legs so that is nearly the same, > wheels and tires and brakes, so that is the same. Then, the part count > goes up on the retract because now we have to have the linkages or jack > screws, electric motor if that style, & wiring, hydraulic system if that > style, and indicator system for gear position. The shear increase in part > count makes it obvious that the retract will weigh more, the question is > just how much more. The coolness factor is not worth the added weight and > drop in performance. Look at the Loehle P5151R vs the P5151. Same max > speed, 10 mph cruise speed increase. For the KR1 no big deal, but for the > KR2, the added weight surely means lower payload. Remember, added weight > in empty weight reduces payload because you still have the same gross > weight! If Troy Pettiway, one of the fastest KRs flying, and Marty > Roberts, another fast one, and Steve Alderman, another fast one, felt that > they would get significant enough speed gains to make it worth the added > weight and time on this plane, trust me they would have put them on! You > can install a Flight Director too in your KR and it will work, BUT does it > make sense and is it necessary to match the mission of the plane, or is it > just the latest greatest toy available and money is burning a hole in your > pocket. If so, so be it. But do not believe that you can make a retract > system come close to the same weight as a well designed fixed gear system. > That defies common sense. Comparing a car's heavy duty leaf spring to my > light weight fiberglass gear legs is truly apples to oranges. > > Not trying to talk anyone out of doing it, just want you to see both sides > BEFORE you buy parts and change your install and begin cutting.... > > Colin & Bev Rainey > KR2(td) N96TA > Sanford, FL > [email protected] > http://kr-builder.org/Colin/index.html > _______________________________________ > to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to [email protected] > please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html > >
