Winter flying with retractable gear?

One instructor told
me that you want to tap the brakes before retracting the gear to dislodge
any slush or snow so that it doesn't freeze in the wheel well

I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told) I confess I've
never actually looked down (sometimes I fly a cutlass) to see how long it takes
them to stop on their own.

I'm not sure how tapping the brakes dislodges any snow. There's very little
shoe travel.

Jose

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Teacherjh wrote:


I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told) I confess I've
never actually looked down (sometimes I fly a cutlass) to see how long it takes
them to stop on their own.

At the rate it takes the Cessna single mains to retract, it's probably
stopped :-)

I'm not sure how tapping the brakes dislodges any snow. There's very little
shoe travel.

Correct, if you've got disks there's not much clearance there to begin
with. For other forms of brakes, it's not even going to do anything.

Of course all this stuff neglects the nose gear.

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:00:16 -0400, Ron Natalie
wrote:

Teacherjh wrote:


I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told) I confess I've
never actually looked down (sometimes I fly a cutlass) to see how long it takes
them to stop on their own.


To me that sounds like a good way to have the brakes freeze.
I have never tapped the brakes yet. OTOH I did land with the brakes
locked one time. Interesting experience.


At the rate it takes the Cessna single mains to retract, it's probably
stopped :-)

In the Deb it takes 10 to 12 seconds. POH says not to retract until a
safe altitude has been reached.


I'm not sure how tapping the brakes dislodges any snow. There's very little
shoe travel.

If they've been used the disks are warm to hot. tapping the brakes
could cause water to collect.


Correct, if you've got disks there's not much clearance there to begin
with. For other forms of brakes, it's not even going to do anything.

Of course all this stuff neglects the nose gear.

It doesn't have any brakes to freeze either.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:00:16 -0400, Ron Natalie
wrote:

Teacherjh wrote:


I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told) I confess I've
never actually looked down (sometimes I fly a cutlass) to see how long it takes
them to stop on their own.


To me that sounds like a good way to have the brakes freeze.
I have never tapped the brakes yet. OTOH I did land with the brakes
locked one time. Interesting experience.


At the rate it takes the Cessna single mains to retract, it's probably
stopped :-)

In the Deb it takes 10 to 12 seconds. POH says not to retract until a
safe altitude has been reached.


I'm not sure how tapping the brakes dislodges any snow. There's very little
shoe travel.

If they've been used the disks are warm to hot. tapping the brakes
could cause water to collect.


Correct, if you've got disks there's not much clearance there to begin
with. For other forms of brakes, it's not even going to do anything.

Of course all this stuff neglects the nose gear.

It doesn't have any brakes to freeze either.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Teacherjh wrote:


I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told) I confess I've
never actually looked down (sometimes I fly a cutlass) to see how long it takes
them to stop on their own.

At the rate it takes the Cessna single mains to retract, it's probably
stopped :-)

I'm not sure how tapping the brakes dislodges any snow. There's very little
shoe travel.

Correct, if you've got disks there's not much clearance there to begin
with. For other forms of brakes, it's not even going to do anything.

Of course all this stuff neglects the nose gear.

"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...
One instructor told
me that you want to tap the brakes before retracting the gear to dislodge
any slush or snow so that it doesn't freeze in the wheel well

I was taught to tap the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning before
tucking
them away. (spinning tires bulge out a bit, or so I was told)

From what I've read, the reasoning is that if the wheel is still spinning,
it can still be spinning off water/slush which can accumulate and freeze
inside the wheel wells.

Paul