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Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 22:00:35 -0400
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From: Barry Hancock <sportform@cox.net>
Subject: Gear up?

Gang,

First, let me say I'm sorry I didn't get to mingle and meet more of  
you at OSH.  I was only there from Thursday on and between staying in  
Manitowoc and all the airshow briefings I didn't even have any time  
to walk the aisles or visit my beloved Fly Mart!  <sigh>  It was cool  
to see so many Lancairs there, however.

It's almost exactly 1500 NM from CNO to OSH....I made it there in  
almost exactly 8 hours of flying and burned 92 gallons.  Don't think  
I could have gone commercially as cheap or fast from point to point,  
wait, I KNOW I couldn't!

It wasn't without it's issues, however.  Seems as though I have a  
Minihuni in my gear system.  For whatever reason the Left main gear  
is reluctant to retract.  The first time it happened I was flying  
over to OSH from MTW with 3 Yaks.  I had my left main confirmed down  
by flight lead (no indications in the cockpit...lights out,  
etc....but increased noise, yaw, and obviously decreased speed for  
the power) and put the gear back down.  Three green lights was good  
enough for me, so I flew the 20 nm with the gear down (Dash One  
flashbacks) and arrived at OSH safely, if not a bit less than  
stylish.  ;)

Everything checked normal externally on the ground.  After a few  
discussions with folks more knowledgeable than I in Legacies (thanks  
Dave M and a few of the folks at Lancair!), I decided to launch for  
home with the Yaks on Sunday and see what happened with the gear.   
That gave me several options and, of course, the gear came up just  
fine.  I decided to stay with a few buddies at least through  
lunch...and a 60 KIAS advantage has it's benefits on a cross country  
gaggle... ;)

Wheels up after the next stop was just fine, again, the left main  
being a bit slower than normal to retract, but confirmed solid and  
tight in the well by another in the flight.  The afternoon fuel stop  
wheels up wasn't so smooth.  The left main again hung, and confident  
this time I didn't have a mechanical blockage, I called my wingman in  
to check things over and observe a cycling of the gear.  This time  
all three came up, with the left being a bit slow.  We RON'd in  
Colorado Springs and the next morning we went out as a two ship....my  
wingman confirmed the gear came up a bit slow, but again, it did come  
up.  4+ hours later I was home.

Now it's time to put it up on jacks and figure out what the problem  
is.  So far the consensus is that there's some type of debris in the  
5606 that's blocking the fluid to the actuator....any other ideas or  
places to check?  Again, there are no leaks and the hydraulic system  
is full....

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Barry