Retractable RV-4!
Dayton and Pierre,
My RV-4 was built by Bryan Carr of Langley, B.C. This is the fourth RV-4 that he had built. Since this aircraft, he has built an RV-6A for his wife that she still flys, an RV-8 that he sold, a beautiful Harmon Rocket, and I understand that he's building an RV-9 now. The landing gear and system was available at the time Bryan started my plane. As I understand it, he bought the gear from a man who's project stalled. It was intended for a Glasair. The hydraulic system is the same motorized pump that is used to raise and lower the big Mercruiser outboard engines. I have seen the system that Glasair used and this is very similar. I have no engineering drawings to share. Bryan built the plane using his considerable ingenuity. I have been flying the plane for six years and other than a couple of small problems with microswitches, it has been trouble free. I do a retraction/extension test, including the emergency system, every six months. Once during my annual inspection and then again at the six month period. I'll try to post some photos showing some more detail of the gear later. Regards, Paul Best