Russ, Yes, there have been many different "improved" versions of positive lock systems devised for the up and down positions for the retracts. Most I've seen over the years worked pretty good, although some were a bit complicated to operate. Quite a few designs are discussed in the archives - you may want to check them out.
Being one of the KR "old timers", I personally prefer the looks of the KR with the wheels retracted (especially Don Betchan's KR-2's highly modified retracts that completely hide out within the wings and really give the plane a sleek appearance), although the tires stick out of the bottom of the wing a couple inches or so in the original design. Conventional (fixed) gear allows a bit longer prop to be used if needed, depending on the engine configuration. The shorter retracts haven't proved to be the best choice for rough fields either, as the plane will ride just inches from the grass. Most KRs you'll see these days will have the fixed gear option, which has proven to be probably the best overall configuration with regard to safety and simplicity. Dan Diehl converted his tailwheel KR-2 to fixed gear in "one long weekend", he's stated, but most guys will no doubt take much longer to do the job. Ed Janssen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Russ & Brenda" <russandbre...@sbcglobal.net> To: "KR builders and pilots" <kr...@mylist.net> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 12:42 AM Subject: Re: KR>Retract or not. > Are there modifications that can be done to the gear to fix the problem? > Thanks, Russ. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mark Jones" <flyk...@wi.rr.com> > To: "KR builders and pilots" <kr...@mylist.net> > Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 12:28 AM > Subject: Re: KR>Retract or not. > > > > Russ, > > The retractable gear if it is the original version has some bad points. > They > > have been known to collapse on touchdown causing a belly slide....not > good. > > Putting fixed gear on would be a smart move. You would not have to worry > > about remembering to drop that gear to land it any more. Plus, that is > just > > one more kiss (keep it safe & simple) system. The cost of the gear depends > > on what you want. Diehl conventional for example would be about $500 for a > > new set and you would have to cut into the wings to mount them. Diehl's > > tri-gear is about $1000 which also takes cutting into the wing to mount > plus > > adding a nose gear bracket. Then there are conventional gear made by Grove > > which would mount to the bottom of the fuselage with minimal > modifications. > > Sorry, I do not know the cost of the Grove gear. Maybe someone else will > > give you an approximation on that. > > > > Mark Jones (N886MJ) > > Wales, WI USA > > E-mail me at flyk...@wi.rr.com > > Visit my KR-2S CorvAIRCRAFT web site at > > http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n886mj/homepage.html > > > > > > > > > Hey gang, I'm looking at a KR2 with retractable gear and the guy was > > telling > > > me how much it would cost to put fixed gear on it. Is that something I > > > should consider? Is the retractable gear bad on the KR2's? > > > Thanks, Russ Houck. > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > see KRnet list details at http://www.krnet.org/instructions.html > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > see KRnet list details at http://www.krnet.org/instructions.html > > > _______________________________________________ > see KRnet list details at http://www.krnet.org/instructions.html >
