retractable undercarriage on a bush plane?

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Pierrepechon
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Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:32 pm

retractable undercarriage on a bush plane?

Post by Pierrepechon »

Dear fellow engineers and aviators,

this might be an odd question - but has anyone ever tried to design a retractable undercarriage for a bush plane with big tundra tyres?

I was just wondering because the major drawback of most bush planes is a low cruise speed, so trying to hide or "semi-hide" the giant wheels will obviously improve top end speed. however it would be relatively tricky to do I'm sure ..... you would need some space to put the wheels, and obviously the mechanism would add weight and complexity.

I can't be the first person to think about this.

I hope you all don't think I am a lunatic !

Pierre
DavidCL
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Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 6:36 pm

Re: retractable undercarriage on a bush plane?

Post by DavidCL »

I've actually been pondering a way to articulate the gear in a way to put them in-line. A fairing smoothing the airflow aft of the tires when stowed would do much to clean up the drag.
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