Landing Gear "Stuck"

A

Apache123

Line Up and Wait
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Aug 3, 2011
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Lake Forest, IL
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Hey, Steve!
Shortly after take-off the other day I went to raise the gear on my Apache. A couple of the gear-down-and-locked lights dimmed and came back on. The gear level stayed in the "up" position and never snapped back to Neutral until I manually placed it back. A quick press down all of the gear-down lights popped back on. Another attempt to raise the gear yielded identical results.

The hydraulic pump/system appeared to be fine as full flaps operation was normal (and no hesitation nor leaked hydraulic fluid on the ramp after shut-down).

My initial thoughts are squat-valve stuck open and preventing full hydraulic pressure to the gear.

Before I start throwing AMU's at general troubleshooting, does anyone have any thoughts or a similar experience?

All input is greatly appreciated!
Apache123
 
Apache123 said:
Shortly after take-off the other day I went to raise the gear on my Apache. A couple of the gear-down-and-locked lights dimmed and came back on. The gear level stayed in the "up" position and never snapped back to Neutral until I manually placed it back. A quick press down all of the gear-down lights popped back on. Another attempt to raise the gear yielded identical results.

The hydraulic pump/system appeared to be fine as full flaps operation was normal (and no hesitation nor leaked hydraulic fluid on the ramp after shut-down).

My initial thoughts are squat-valve stuck open and preventing full hydraulic pressure to the gear.

Before I start throwing AMU's at general troubleshooting, does anyone have any thoughts or a similar experience?

All input is greatly appreciated!
Apache123
Click to expand...

Sounds like your powerpack is going downhill. The flap side may be working fine but the gear side is failing.

Get ready to spend major dollars.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Known gear problem and it is down? Leave it down and call it a day!
Click to expand...

I have to agree here, having been in a plane that didn't want the gear to come down, when in doubt leave it down!

It's my job as the mechanic to figgure it out, on jacks.
 
In case anyone runs into a similar issue:

The squat-valve was stuck open so the gear couldn't retract at all. I had an email conversation with John at Diamond Aire, and he said this was most likely the cause and said it's a common thing. With use the squat-valve slowly gets stuck as an always-open switch. I guess this is also a plug for them as he was very courteous, knowledgeable, and responded quickly.
 
Thanks for reporting back, always nice to hear what the problem was.
 
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