LGM Graphix

My Feedback: (22)

Will the Springair 101HD retracts work in the Hotspot without to much hassle? I might be getting one but I don't want to buy more retracts, I have a couple sets of the 101HD units here already.
Thanks in advance
Jeremy

Roger Shook

My Feedback: (19)

I have the Spring airs on my main gear, but the nose gear wouldn't extend and lockdown properly against the air flow, causing the nose gear to collapse on landing. Thus mine has the Robart air up air down nose gear with jetronics retract valve on the whole system and the additional air down ports blocked.
Roger Shook

Ken F.

Jeremy,

I had a set of Spring Air retracts that I installed on a D&L kit. The retracts could be used as is, air up and spring down. Or you could remove the spring and use air to pressure them up and down. You might see if the ones you have can be converted.

Regards,

Ken........

erbroens

The most problem prone area of a Hotspot or any turbine plane is its landing gear. put the best gear now and you will not waste time working twice and eventually repairing damage of
a gear collapse.

Rgds, Enrique

LGM Graphix

My Feedback: (22)

Enrique,
I realize that, this is far from my first jet, no concerns there, I was just wondering what the mounts were like and such and if the spring airs would work, as for the nose gear, perhaps building a new former and mounting the gear so it retracts forward would solve the not locking down position problem. I've never actually had a main gear collapse on me, just nose gears when the air pressure won't let them lock

Kelly W

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Jeremy,

Reworking it to retract the nose forward wheel is probably doable, but there's a healthy amount of work to be done to the formers. You'd also need to redesign the whole steering mechanism. Maybe you could find a way to use ball links and a single pushrod as apposed to cables... Getting at it the whole setup through the canopy opening is EASY, somewhat more restricted with a forward facing setup

If you forget about the gear you have already, I'd go for the same Aurora Diamond retracts you used in the Grypen, then maybe Robart as a secondary option. I have Robarts in mine. They work fine and hold air forever, but getting them took quite a while.

Kelly

erbroens

Sorry Jeremy if I tried to explain the bible to the priest! , :-) I think that of course you can reverse the main landing gear to make the air pressure assist the gear extraction, (this remind me the A4-D Skyhawk, Ed Heineman designed in this plane a forward retracting gear that can lock all the wheels just with air pressure, in case of hydraulic malfunction), the only drawback on doing this in the HS
is perhaps that you will get a less stable ground handling, unless you open a new landing gear hole
in the nose of the plane and cope with all the problems that this will bring... so.,,, wouldn't be better
to buy that robart gear?

Regards, Enrique

Randy M.

My Feedback: (38)

Jeremy,
I'm still using the stock Graupner nose unit on my HS. The problem I had was the little spring steel damper was getting in the way. I removed it and I also took the cylinder apart and stetched the spring to stiffen it. Reassembled, and has worked evey time. Worth a shot. I did replace the mains with Robart, they are the shiznit!