DG-1000 undercarriage collapses and inadvertent extensions ?

I have carried out a few more investigations on the
problem of locking the undercarriage down from the
front cockpit.

Basically if you can't get the palm of your left hand
at least level with the back of the undercarriage lever
when strapped in on the ground with the wheel down,
you probably won't be able to lock the U/C down in
flight. Pad yourself forward with firm cushions until
you can. The cushions have to be firm as you need something
to push against.

To put the wheel down twist the lever out and down,
and take a long hard run at it. If you keep the lever
too close to the cockpit wall, you risk jamming your
fingers against a bulkhead, just like I managed to
do the other week. The bruising has just about subsided!

If you think that the U/C has locked down properly,
then push the lever against the side wall, check that
it fits into the detent if fitted, or that the lever
is fully forward, and then briefly open the airbrakes
to see if the warning goes off. If it doesn't you should
be OK.

BTW people with long arms find it difficult to lock
the wheel up, as their elbows hit the seat back first.
I still think that the ergonomics of this system are
appalling.

Derek Copeland


At 09:12 28 April 2007, Derek Copeland wrote:
We have been told by our CFI not to do it the way Bob
suggests, although we have used this technique on other
gliders. I guess the reason is that the two wheeler
type main wheel sticks out an awfully long way, so
you may not be able to lift the tail high enough. Alternatively
it may risk damaging the nose or the tailboom.

If the undercarriage had been properly designed from
an engineering and ergonomic point of view, this procedure
wouldn't be necessary anyway! BTW the glider comes
with a gear up warning as standard, but quite a few
people (including me) have failed to lock the undercarriage
down properly, even with the warning going off. I thought
that a microswitch must have failed because the U/C
sounded as if it had locked down and the lever appeared
to be fully forward.

Derek Copeland