How many cranks on gear?

F

flyncowboy

New member
Hi folks,
New here, thanks for all the great info. The question I have is on my cruisair I crank about 32 times to get the gear in, It appears to be all the way in the wells. But I can still put in another 4 cranks till the cranking is through. Can I stop at 32? Am I just putting strain on the gear/chain by cranking till I can"t crank any more?
 
Stop cranking at the first indication of resistance. When your airplane is up on stands during the retract test, crank your 32 turns, go check your gear. The tire should just touch the rub strips on the underside of the wing skin. Half the tire will remain exposed. If this is not the case, try another crank or two until the previous situation occurs. Never, ever put any heavy force on the crank handle. You could damage the system. I really don't count my cranks most of the time. I just wait 'til I feel resistance. As I remember, my 14-9 and 14-12F3 take 32 cranks and my 14-13 takes 36-37 cranks. Dan
 
Thanks Dan, I appreciate the info. My 14-13-2 is up on stands right now so I will double check the crank turns. My friend Bruce Barton has a whole bunch of them, 14-13-2 with a o-435 and another with the franklin. I have gotten my practice in the cranking department lol.
 
It's 36 turns for my 14-13-2. At one point, when I first got it, when made a gear swing on jacks, one wheel was parked all the way in before the other, it would have taken about a turn more to park the second one. And when extended, one was not 100% extended as well. So they have to be rigged really equally to park in the same time and have your numbers of turns right. Or else the system will get damaged as Dan said.

Alain.
 
Dont forget to check service bulletin #24, from clear back in 1948. I have seen a few Cruisairs that have still not been upgraded. It is a down stop put on the end of the jackscrews, so that you cant over pressure the joint where the long and short part of the retract struts hinge. I think it is important to have them in place.______Grant.
 
Hi Alain, did you ever locate a second stop? Since I last talked to you I have obtained several boxes of Cruisair parts that I havent gone through yet. I will dig into them if you still need the part.___Grant.
 
Hi Grant, let me know if you find one. I did'n't get to it yet but would do it during my annual in April
Got you voicemail about the lower lip/cowling. Thanks

Alain.
 
Interesting story. I'm a psychiatrist and was evaluating a 93 year old man yesterday who has early dementia. He told me he was a B-17 pilot in the European theater. I asked him if he flew after the war? He said he did, he owned four planes. The first was a Cessna, the second a Bellanca, the third a Navion and the last a Bonanza. I asked him what sort of Bellanca was it? He couldn't remember. I asked him how he retracted the gear? He said he cranked 23 times. I think he transposed the numbers, but this memory remained.
 
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