Not anything in particular. Just wanted something easier to help me study the landing system for the oral portion of my commercial ride.
That's what I figured. Commercial.
I try to get photos of the components during inspections for airplanes I'm going to teach Commercial students in and then you can go over each component with a real photo of it, with a block or simplified diagram to describe what it's all doing. Makes it feel a little more real that way.
Also the photos pull double duty as handouts to the DPE if they ask you to teach a specific system, although a photo often won't be enough of a description nor really show what's going on. It's usually something you'd show after describing the system.
Example: You can't see the hydraulic piston moving inside the housing it's in, but you can explain that it's a tube and explain that hydraulic fluid isn't compressible, so when you pump one way, the gear is pushed down, and when you pump the other way, the gear moves back up.
A pretty simple diagram can show how a single hydraulic piston and a pump with a reversing switch can drive landing gear up and down.
Similar for whatever form the emergency extension mechanism takes the form of. In some airplanes it's releasing the hydraulic system from the gear mechanical and gravity and springs push it down, in others it's a backup electric or hydraulic pump.
And of course, don't forget to think about how the gear stays in either fully retracted or fully extended positions (hydraulic pressure, down locks, etc.) and how those are overridden or not in the emergency mode.
Unfortunately this is one of those things where when you're prepping for the Commercial ride, you're also expected to learn it from whatever material you can find. Guaranteed your CFI has probably prepped to teach it before, as have others, so ask a few local CFIs to explain the system to you. Some will have better material to show you than others. And some draw great diagrams on the whiteboard.
I haven't seen any good/consistent tech videos of this stuff. I have seen some bootleg UND, ERAU, and ATP documents floating around the Net for the aircraft types they specifically use in their fleets, but you didn't say which specific Cessna you're training in. If it's a type one of those big schools uses, Google a bit for their stuff. It's out there.
Another tip. If the school you're at is flying the airplane a LOT, ask to specifically be notified when a 100 hour or annual inspection is coming up. Especially if they're going to swing the gear. Then go watch. Just watching it happen in person and asking a few questions of the mechanic -- if that's possible where you are going to be flying -- is another great way to really learn the systems.
