"...one also needs a pilot accessible switch to override the "squat" switch, if any. ES and Legacy FG pilots will have to use something else, a boat anchor perhaps."

 

 

This is, admittedly, a neophyte's question, but as Lancairs are such slick little beasts, is there any reason not to install/use a drag chute (a la Air Force) for those emergencies that a squat switch override might be called for?  If a Cirrus can free fall gently with a big one, wouldn't a smaller deployable chute stop an overrun safely? 

 

One would probably have to ensure the triggering device were dependent on the squat switch being already activated.

J (even shorter),

 

Ahh, the drag chute coefficient of friction is less than that betwixt fiberglass and runway (I have experience with the latter).

 

The squat switch override is not just for emergency but also maintenance.  The most common Lancair squat switch is hooked into the pitot/static system and generally allows the gear to be retracted if it senses 70-80 Kts.  Short of supplying air pressure to the pitot or shorting the somewhat inaccessible squat switch in order to test gear operation whilst on jacks, one might install an override switch.  Mine is an illuminated push-on push-off backlit switch, labeled "Squat Defeat," mounted in the gear-switch and gear-locked light cluster area.  It seems that it is the only "ease of maintenance" item I have installed.

 

This was just a "food for thought" concept that is beginning to show discomfort from indigestion.

 

I would never suggest unwieldy complexity to solve unlikely events.  It's just that I have to think of a backup for the eventual failure of my Nylaflo brake lines.

 

PS I don't even carry a personal chute when I make dramatic 61 degree banked turns.