There are several reasons why KR builders migrated from the retracts to
fixed gear:
The original design was a bit weak on support, especially for heavier
planes and pilots, leading to excessive flexing, and even poking holes
in the top of the wing during a hard landing. The latching mechanism
was a bit of the PITA to make happen, physically, and until some better
latching systems were designed, the gear was prone to retracting
inadvertently on rough ground or hard landings. Prop manufacturers
loved the KR retracts though, as it was a boon to the small prop making
industry! Another downside was that the plane was so close to the
ground that they would glide even farther down the runway before
touchdown because of the cushion of air trapped under the wings.
Many of these problems were later solved, such as thicker or stiffer
stronger "spring bars", improved latching mechanisms, etc. Aerodynamics
was often cited as a reason to keep the retracts, but as folks moved to
the Diehl gear, they found the plane would actually go faster, and
weighed less, so even those arguments evaporated. Your wallet will be
lighter, however.
There's a lot more on this in the old KR Newsletters, in which
collapsing gear was a common topic, as well as brake improvements. See
http://www.krnet.org/newsletter/ and download the whole thing using
http://www.krnet.org/newsletter/kr_newsletter.pdf . Give it a while
to download the large file, as it's approaching a Gigabyte. This is a
searchable PDF. Reading everything on the evolution of the retracts to
fixed gear will take you a week to read through, but then you'll seethe
problem stories, know the options, and get details and drawings of the
solutions....
Mark Langford
m...@n56ml.com
http://www.n56ml.com
Huntsville, AL
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