C172RG Gear Actuating Problems — Tech Ops Forum

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C172RG Gear Actuating Problems

BAW2198 From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 637 posts, RR: 4
Posted (6 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 4675 times:

Hi guys, different question about the landing on the good old cutlas this time.

What is the weakest part of the gear system on the 72RG? I've talked with a few pilots/ instructors and some have said if your going to fly one, (jokingly I think), they say to bring a cane with you to hook onto the mains to get them down and locked.

So,

A> Is the cane theory possible?

B> What is causing the malfunction?

C> Does this problem only pertain to the cutlas or does it include other cessna retract singles as well?

Thanks

Aaron

"And remember, Keep your stick on the ice"--->Red Green

2 replies: All unread, jump to last

Arch89U From United States of America, joined May 2001, 188 posts, RR: 0
Reply 1, posted (6 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 4656 times:

The C172RG has an odd configuration in that it requires hydraulic pressure in both directions. In simpler terms, to raise the gear, you need hydraulic pressure, and to lower the gear, you need hydraulic pressure. Any time the aircraft gets low on hydraulic fluid, you are basically out of luck. The gear is stuck where it remains. All the hand pump does is apply hydraulic pressure in the "downward" direction, so a loss of hydraulic pressure means a gear up landing.

I have no idea about question A, but come on, it's obviously a joke.

Cessna singles have notoriously bad gear systems due to the fact that they have to retract back into the fuselage, thus having a very odd retraction pattern, and the associated mechanical difficulties.

Additionally, the gear motor is VERY prone to overheating. If you are doing pattern work on a nice sunny day, you are better off to leave the gear down every other pattern rather than to overstress the gear motor.

The Cutlass is typically an underrated aircraft, and I encourage you to look at my previous thread regarding it to learn more about it.

Arch89U

Cancidas From Poland, joined Jul 2003, 4112 posts, RR: 13
Reply 2, posted (6 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 4648 times:

i've got a lot of time in the 172RG, since it was the best maintained airplane in the fleet from the school i was renting from. the mechanics went over that airplane with a fine-tooth comb every 100 hours, most likely since he was the only other person that flew it as much as i did.

anyway, i've been told that if the airplane ever falls into disrepair, or runs low on hydraulic fluid you can expect problems from the landing gear pump. it once got stuck on my on the airplane i flew in the down position due to a fluid leak and once in the up position which caused a good amount of sweat from my and my right seater. we were doing a few ILS approches and had the gear up and down a few times. it wouldn't deploy and we were forced to fly around to let the pump cool off (per mechanic's suggestion on company freq.) when they suggested an emergency landing we looked at each other and both said this: