Rob58
Moderator
Occasionally it’s desirable to lock the landing gear in the extended position without the worry of an accidental collapse. In my case I have the powerpack out of 35R and needed to use the jacks on another plane. Although there are a variety of ways to lock the gear in the extended position I wanted something very secure and I was not satisfied with just any approach. So I fabricated some wooden pieces that would give me good peace of mind. Using birch or poplar hardwood and a portable router, I fashioned some “splints” for the main gear and locked them in place with worm clamps. With minor variations these will work for both the taildraggers and the tricycle gear Bellanca models. For the nose gear on my -3 Cruisemaster I came up with a slightly more involved solution. My goal, in addition to being very secure, was to come up with a design that would permit the removal of the hydraulic actuators and the kick-down springs for servicing. Yes, this concept might be overkill, but I am a bit paranoid about the gear collapse scenario.
