Robert M. Gary wrote:


There are two things here. Tapping the brakes is something started in
WWII because a B-17 would tip over when the gear come up if the wheels
were spinning (imagine the gyro action happening on those big wheels).

Myth.

First, the wheels are NOT that big compared to the weight of the aircraft.

Second, the B-17 wheels are retracted along their plane of rotation.
They swing forward nestling in the inboard engine nacells. If you
land one gear up, it will roll on the retracted wheels (with other parts
of the aircraft scraping, however).