If you takeoff with the gear pins still installed you're in for some
embarrassment.
The gear pins are just another safeguard to keep the gear from retracting on
the ground. At least in fighter aircraft. I can't speak for the BUFFS. LOL.
PapaGeorge

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Scet writes:

This can be gear pins on some aircraft, but will normally be all the pins
not just the nose.

Some aircraft have towbars (they are usually aircraft specific on large
aircraft) that will disengage the steering mechanism when properly
engage.
An integral locking pin usually has to be pulled out of the way by hand
tp
prevent inadvertant actuation of the disabling mechanism.

With some aircraft, the nose wheel steering wheel is used during normal
taxi
operations and to maintian centre line during take off untill around
80kts
when the rudder is effective enough to do the job. The nose of the
aircraft
is usually getting too light at this stage and becoming non effective.

Some aircraft landing gear are configured so as to have a rearward rake
about them. This means that to retract the gear it has to lift the
aircraft
over centre to retract the gear. Some have a rigid link connected to the
strut scissor links and when the strut is compressed with weight on
wheels,
the link is pushed upward and causes a hinged locking collar to pivot
down
and prevent the retraction actuator from breaking the over centre down
lock,
which may also have un undercarriage safety pin inserted through the area
that it breaks at. AP-3Cs have all three and if an under carriage line is
replaced or something else minor, like an uplock release cylinder, it can
be
leak checked by selecting the under carriage up and down without fear of
retracting the gear. It sounds a bit louder than a household tap (fawcet)
being turned on then suddenly turned off.

The old Sabre fighter jets, like Kirk Olsens, had a button that would
retract the gear on the ground if the brakes failed. The seat, if I
remember
rightly, wasn't much use on the ground.

Thanks for the cool details!

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.