As one who has survived a L-IVP gear retraction during take-off, I have
to say that you guys are beginning to scare me with your talk of
over-riding the squat switch and retracting the gear during a bad
takeoff as a means of slowing down.???  Since one gear always breaks
free first, what would prevent the plane from cartwheeling and would it
be possible to survive???  I really doubt it.....so I hope that this
discussion is all tongue-in-cheek.
Maybe a drag chute would be preferable....It might fit inside the new
"strake" mod???  Any other options????

Bill,

 

At last, a voice of sanity.  However, you cannot mentally chew on food-for-thought ideas with tongue-in-cheek discussions.  I'm sure you see the dilemma.

 

Did you complete the takeoff or can you report on the braking action?

 

I'm afraid that IVx's are now in the same category as ES's - for them, the boat anchor is looking like a better option since you have noted that main gear collapses may not be symmetric, perhaps resulting in unintended consequences.  How about a strake mod that drops a plow-share blade - Hmmm, maybe that would only work on a grass strip?  The strip owner might be angry with a plowed furrow down the middle, unless the aircraft operator owns the strip.

 

The 300 and Legacy series with forward opening canopies do indeed have another option - Charged gas struts, electronically switched to force open the canopy on command.  Think of the drag that would create and with no damage to the engine, prop or cowl - sort of super speed brakes that are effective at almost any speed.  However, one should not utilize this option in a tail wind situation since many have already experienced the "spinnaker" effect in such conditions.  Of course, one would have to wear goggles or glasses to prevent FOD from damaging one's eyes - or, just shut them and hope for the best.

 

Because of recent LML discussions, one would not want such a switch on the stick, especially on the passenger side (Dom, take note).

 

Another benefit of this device would be to assist exiting the aircraft whilst in an unrecoverable spin or the aircraft is found to be missing a control surface or wing.  This assumes a desire to actually depart the craft when airborne and where each occupant is firmly attached to a personal parachute.  Goggles are recommended for this scenario also (remember to remove headsets, ear-bud types in particular).  There may be peculiar additional aerobatic maneuvers entered as a result of "popping" up the canopy during any flight regime and the effect of flap deployment would be unknown until some survivor(s) could provide a report.

 

Grayhawk

(Had to jump into this discussion because the instigator is being confined to his cell with added meds)