Gear warnings

[fred]

I have paid out of my pocket for several gear up landings by renter
pilots. I know they have the best intent. Rather than require more
insurance, I would prefer a better warning system.
Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
seem to work.
Of all the students I have personally taught, I am the first...Yea,
Me. I landed on the belly while my passenger was having a panic
attack. Maybe the explosion would have gotten my attention.
For me, this is a serious request. Air brake handle markers have been
tried, but the renter pilot seems to forget to install them.
Please also tell me how to get my instructors to teach traffic
scanning. A friend and I had to take a shower and clean up both seats
yesterday. Four eyes, both activically scanning, gave a brief moment
that allowed a close encounter rather than planting a lot of glass
below.
They are very nice people and I love them, so maybe some words to me
would help keep my friends and me both flying.
Fred R.

[Bill Daniels]

Two thoughts.

Stick shakers can be made with the little vibrator motors from cell phones
or pagers. They come in a wide range of sizes. Electronic parts suppliers
sell them for a few dollars.

The other thought is from a guy I knew who rented Mooneys and, like you,
suffered from renter pilots who forget the rollers. His solution was to add
skids to the belly. The engine and prop still suffered but the airframe
didn't so he could get the airplane back on revenue status in a few days.

Adding a light, tough HMWPE plastic skid to a glider would save the
fiberglass. Sacrificing $10 worth of HMWPE is better than $4000 worth of
gelcoat and fiberglass and replacing it would be an hour job. A skid two
inches wide and .5" thick should do the job and it wouldn't weigh more than
a couple of pounds.

Bill D


"fred" > wrote in message
...
>I have paid out of my pocket for several gear up landings by renter
> pilots. I know they have the best intent. Rather than require more
> insurance, I would prefer a better warning system.
> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
> seem to work.
> Of all the students I have personally taught, I am the first...Yea,
> Me. I landed on the belly while my passenger was having a panic
> attack. Maybe the explosion would have gotten my attention.
> For me, this is a serious request. Air brake handle markers have been
> tried, but the renter pilot seems to forget to install them.
> Please also tell me how to get my instructors to teach traffic
> scanning. A friend and I had to take a shower and clean up both seats
> yesterday. Four eyes, both activically scanning, gave a brief moment
> that allowed a close encounter rather than planting a lot of glass
> below.
> They are very nice people and I love them, so maybe some words to me
> would help keep my friends and me both flying.
> Fred R.

[Wayne Paul]

Fred,

Simply replace your current horn with an inexpensive Radio Shack
pizo-crystal buzzer. If you can hear you home smoke detector you will hear
the gear warning. Hopefully you will not get confused and think your glider
is on fire.

Wayne
flying a pizo-crystal buzzer equipped HP-14
http://www.soaridaho.com



"fred" > wrote in message
...
>I have paid out of my pocket for several gear up landings by renter
> pilots. I know they have the best intent. Rather than require more
> insurance, I would prefer a better warning system.
> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
> seem to work.
> Of all the students I have personally taught, I am the first...Yea,
> Me. I landed on the belly while my passenger was having a panic
> attack. Maybe the explosion would have gotten my attention.
> For me, this is a serious request. Air brake handle markers have been
> tried, but the renter pilot seems to forget to install them.
> Please also tell me how to get my instructors to teach traffic
> scanning. A friend and I had to take a shower and clean up both seats
> yesterday. Four eyes, both activically scanning, gave a brief moment
> that allowed a close encounter rather than planting a lot of glass
> below.
> They are very nice people and I love them, so maybe some words to me
> would help keep my friends and me both flying.
> Fred R.

[[email protected]]

On Nov 19, 10:58 pm, "Wayne Paul" > wrote:
> Fred,
>
> Simply replace your current horn with an inexpensive Radio Shack
> pizo-crystal buzzer. If you can hear you home smoke detector you will hear
> the gear warning. Hopefully you will not get confused and think your glider
> is on fire.
>
> Wayne
> flying a pizo-crystal buzzer equipped HP-14http://www.soaridaho.com
>
> "fred" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> >I have paid out of my pocket for several gear up landings by renter
> > pilots. I know they have the best intent. Rather than require more
> > insurance, I would prefer a better warning system.
> > Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
> > have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
> > light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
> > seem to work.
> > Of all the students I have personally taught, I am the first...Yea,
> > Me. I landed on the belly while my passenger was having a panic
> > attack. Maybe the explosion would have gotten my attention.
> > For me, this is a serious request. Air brake handle markers have been
> > tried, but the renter pilot seems to forget to install them.
> > Please also tell me how to get my instructors to teach traffic
> > scanning. A friend and I had to take a shower and clean up both seats
> > yesterday. Four eyes, both activically scanning, gave a brief moment
> > that allowed a close encounter rather than planting a lot of glass
> > below.
> > They are very nice people and I love them, so maybe some words to me
> > would help keep my friends and me both flying.
> > Fred R.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


Fred,

Maybe you can't hear your "horm" because it's not working. If your
renters are landing gear up, they're not hearing it either. Something
is failing somewhere, and it's probably not your hearing. Maybe it's
just not the best implementation of a warning system.

As Wayne mentioned, those little piezo buzzers from Radio Shack are
very obnoxious and loud. I'm sure you would hear it, especially if it
was mounted right behind your head. A simple ciruit with two
microswitches and a buzzer is very inexpensive and easy to do. Landing
gear switch closed when gear is up, spoiler switch open when spoilers
are closed. As long as the switch mounts are sturdy, it should be
practically bullet-proof, other than a power system failure.

[raulb]

On Nov 19, 7:40 pm, fred > wrote:
> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
> seem to work.

If you want a light, just hook up a panel mounted 12 volt LED
(available for a couple bucks at any electronics store) in parallel to
your horn. That way you have both a horn and a light.

[Paul Remde]

Hi,

I really like the TB32 Echo Recorded Sound Alarm (digital voice playback)
option from Tasman. You record someone saying something like "Lower the
gear NOW" into the little box and then wire it into your gear warning
system. It is extremely easy to setup and use. I have heard of some
operators recording messages such as "Lower the F****** Gear!". That's not
my style, but I imagine it gets the attention of the pilot and is therefore
very effective. You can see details here:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tasman.htm#TB32

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"raulb" > wrote in message
...
> On Nov 19, 7:40 pm, fred > wrote:
>> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
>> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
>> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
>> seem to work.
>
> If you want a light, just hook up a panel mounted 12 volt LED
> (available for a couple bucks at any electronics store) in parallel to
> your horn. That way you have both a horn and a light.
>
>
>

[HL Falbaum]

If you can hear conversation and the radio, You should hear a piezo buzzer.
They come in several "loudnesses" and some can be wired for intermittant
tone. Intermittant tone can be more attention getting than a steady tone.
They are very inexpensive---wire one up to a battery, and take it for a test
drive in a car, windows down, radio up, at highway speed. LED on the panel
is great idea too. The LEDs come in several sizes and brightnesses. Be sure
to get the kind with built in resistor.

Scanning is good, but is not fail-safe. We all know how to scan--segments,
and near-to-far exam of the airspace. Do we always do it? We all know that
answer. In some Eastern soaring conditions, visibility in certain directions
and conditions can be limited, though the general visibility is well above
lega minima. (Up sun into haze, hilly background, etc). FLARM is partial
help, PCAS is partial help. No answer is complete.

Instructing a lowtime student in the pattern is a special problem, requiring
extra vigilance. Sitting in backseat, opaque globe in front of you, canopy
distortion maximised, teaching, correcting mistakes of student after the
error is obvious to him/her, but before it turns out badly. High workload
here with lots of distraction. High awareness of the problem helps.
--
Hartley Falbaum


"raulb" > wrote in message
...
> On Nov 19, 7:40 pm, fred > wrote:
>> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
>> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
>> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
>> seem to work.
>
> If you want a light, just hook up a panel mounted 12 volt LED
> (available for a couple bucks at any electronics store) in parallel to
> your horn. That way you have both a horn and a light.
>
>
>

[Chip Bearden]

I guess if the buzzer is loud and obnoxious enough it's better than
nothing. I only have two problems based on personal experience.

Using the dive brakes without putting the wheel down triggers the
alarm. As it should. On final approach. But also in a crowded thermal,
letting down in the wave, etc. And something could go wrong with one
of the microswitches causing the alarm to scream uncontrollably. Or
the dive brake handle can get knocked away from the sidewall when the
fuselage is in the trailer (if you think having the ELT go off in the
trailer is annoying, try rolling up to the airport Saturday morning to
find that the gear warning horn has been on for days and your battery
is dead.

For all the above reasons, many (most?) people install an override
switch, which invariably you'll forget to switch on again. End of gear
warning.

The second problem is that I've landed with the warning horn going off
in my ear. True, I'd put the wheel down (but hadn't pushed the handle
quite far enough towards the sidewall. I guess subconsciously I knew
there wasn't a problem (and there wasn't) so I subconsciously ignored
the noise. Plus I was finishing low and fast and pulling up and
monitoring traffic and following close on someone's tail in the low
pattern and all sorts of other things at the time. Exactly the kind of
overload situation that might cause me to forget to put the wheel
down.

That was 35 years ago. I haven't had a gear warning system since.
Yeah, I'll probably forget one of these days. And THEN install
one. :) But I'm hoping my checklist--which I consult more often with
each passing year--will keep me out of trouble. You can't make things
idiotproof.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.

[[email protected]]

> That was 35 years ago. I haven't had a gear warning system since.
> Yeah, I'll probably forget one of these days. And THEN install
> one. :)
Isn't that the "normal" approach??
I really like the idea of a "stick shaker". My hearing is very weak
in the upper ranges, and the Radio Shack Piezo annunciators all seem
to be in that range. Next time I take my interior out, I think I'll
build a stick shaker in.

[brtlmj]

> If you can hear you home smoke detector you will hear
> the gear warning.

I can't stand being in one room with one of those (I guess that's the
purpose of a smoke detector ;-)). In a small cockpit and under a
canopy the noise level would be high enough to make me a much worse
pilot than I usually am. Close to the ground, this may be fatal.

Bartek

[Bill Daniels]

I didn't like the squealers either - they sound too much like vario beeps.
I have a tiny electric noisemaker that emits a ominous 'growl' that doesn't
sound like anything else in the cockpit.

I also use GPS_LOG on my PDA which speaks "check gear" whenever I'm within
pattern altitude of terrain. (I know it wouldn't work for you ridge runners
but out west, we have better lift.)

Bill D


"brtlmj" > wrote in message
...
>> If you can hear you home smoke detector you will hear
>> the gear warning.
>
> I can't stand being in one room with one of those (I guess that's the
> purpose of a smoke detector ;-)). In a small cockpit and under a
> canopy the noise level would be high enough to make me a much worse
> pilot than I usually am. Close to the ground, this may be fatal.
>
> Bartek

[Cats]

On Nov 20, 6:16 pm, Chip Bearden > wrote:
<snip>
> Or
> the dive brake handle can get knocked away from the sidewall when the
> fuselage is in the trailer (if you think having the ELT go off in the
> trailer is annoying, try rolling up to the airport Saturday morning to
> find that the gear warning horn has been on for days and your battery
> is dead.
<sdnip>

You leave the battery connected? It's not taken home to recharge?

[Wayne Paul]

"brtlmj" > wrote in message
...
>> If you can hear you home smoke detector you will hear
>> the gear warning.
>
> I can't stand being in one room with one of those (I guess that's the
> purpose of a smoke detector ;-)). In a small cockpit and under a
> canopy the noise level would be high enough to make me a much worse
> pilot than I usually am. Close to the ground, this may be fatal.
>

Bartek

My piezo buzzer is located in a box surrounded by foam. It is still loud.
As mentioned in my original post, I fly a HP-14 which uses 90 degree flaps
for glide slope control. The buzzer is actuated when ever the flaps setting
is greater then 20 degrees and the gear is up. Normally I start adding
flaps on the down wind and turn base with at least 30 degrees of flap. The
couple of times it has sounded in flight were both on the down wind.

This configuration using piezo sound attenuation on a "flaps-only" sailplane
works well.

Wayne
HP-14 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder

[Ian[_2_]]

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:19:46 +0000, Paul Remde wrote:


> I really like the TB32 Echo Recorded Sound Alarm (digital voice
> playback) option from Tasman. You record someone saying something like
> "Lower the gear NOW" into the little box and then wire it into your gear
> warning system. It is extremely easy to setup and use. I have heard of
> some operators recording messages such as "Lower the F****** Gear!".

Picture the situation. You are in climbing in wave, approaching the ceiling
of the available airspace. You get on the radio, talk nicely to the Air
Traffic Controller and ask for clearance to climb. The good man reads out
squawk codes, barometric sub scale and everything else he can conjure up to
confuse you, then tells you to "stand by". So you carefully recite all
the numbers back to him and at the same time as you deploy the airbrakes to
avoid climbing into the not yet available airspace ...

Damn gear warning!

Ian

[Mike the Strike]

>
> The second problem is that I've landed with the warning horn going off
> in my ear. True, I'd put the wheel down (but hadn't pushed the handle
> quite far enough towards the sidewall. I guess subconsciously I knew
> there wasn't a problem (and there wasn't) so I subconsciously ignored

Yes indeed. I had a colleague some years ago who was notorious for
frequent gear-up landings (fortunately on a soft grass strip). He had
the loudest and most obnoxious alarm installed you could possibly
imagine. One day, I was on field duty as he landed. I could hear the
alarm from a couple of hundred yards away, getting louder and louder
as he eventually screamed past me and made another perfect gear-up
landing. As he opened the canopy, the alarm could be heard for miles.

He didn't hear it. In the busy activity of landing, his brain tuned
it out.

It's the same reason we sometimes hit other cars we haven't seen - the
brain selects information to process and can't always be relied upon
to include everything we really need.

Mike

[Tony Verhulst]

.......s you deploy the airbrakes to
> avoid climbing into the not yet available airspace ...
>
> Damn gear warning!


Lower the gear?

My one and only gear up (on turf, thankfully) was a strange ridge day
when the ridge was working and the clouds were low and I had to use
spoilers to stay out of the clouds. The "gear warning" was the toilet
paper roll kind - when you raise the gear, you move the TP roll from the
gear handle to the spoiler handle; open the spoilers and if you have a
TP roll in your hand, the gear is up. On this day, operating the
spoilers with the TP roll in my hand became normal and when I entered
the pattern......

I should have lowered the gear when my "gear warning" went off on the ridge.

Tony V.

[Ed Winchester]

Just an off the wall idea here, but haven't seen it before. Why not a
strobe light. Certainly there's nothing else like that in the cockpit,
and it's pretty hard to ignore.

Ed

[[email protected]]

This might be a bit simplistic but I put a piece of red tape next to
the gear handle in the gear up position. Don't land with the handle
in the red position. It's better than the little picture but you
still have to at least look at the gear handle.

Bob

[[email protected]]

I have a 3 dollar gear warning system. Take off with a large women's
hairclip on the spoiler handle. When you lower the gear on downwind,
move this to the gear handle. If you pull the spoilers and feel the
hair clip, you have either forgotten to put the gear down or forgot to
move the clip. Either way it forces you to check. "Marker" class
glider drivers who need spoilers on takeoff can modify this with an
extra step. Start with the clip on the gear handle and move it over
prior to gear retraction. No batteries, no loud buzzers going off to
distract you.

2C

On Nov 19, 10:40 pm, fred > wrote:
> I have paid out of my pocket for several gear up landings by renter
> pilots. I know they have the best intent. Rather than require more
> insurance, I would prefer a better warning system.
> Since I can not hear most warning horns (old ears) I would like to
> have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off the shelf) a big flashing
> light or an explosion. My wallet hurts, and teaching USTALL doesn't
> seem to work.
> Of all the students I have personally taught, I am the first...Yea,
> Me. I landed on the belly while my passenger was having a panic
> attack. Maybe the explosion would have gotten my attention.
> For me, this is a serious request. Air brake handle markers have been
> tried, but the renter pilot seems to forget to install them.
> Please also tell me how to get my instructors to teach traffic
> scanning. A friend and I had to take a shower and clean up both seats
> yesterday. Four eyes, both activically scanning, gave a brief moment
> that allowed a close encounter rather than planting a lot of glass
> below.
> They are very nice people and I love them, so maybe some words to me
> would help keep my friends and me both flying.
> Fred R.

[nimbusgb]

I always fit a gear warning alarm to my ships but my 'over the fence
check' is gear check down and locked. My one wheels up, luckily on a
deeply grassed runway was after a long hard dehydrating cross country
terminated by a just sub Vne flyby and pullup. Top of the pullup, gear
down, roll onto downwind, arc around to finals, line up on centreline,
pop brakes, all looking good. fence below, check gear down and locked.
Damn! not sure, ISNT THAT UP? Why no alarm? cycle lever. Blast of
siren followed by soft bump and smell of overheated gelcoat.

A company called elk does a combined voice and siren device in the US.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Security/elk/ELK-Voice-Siren/
That and a couple of timer chips and you could have a siren then a
subltle voice reminder and then different siren then siren and some
less than complimentary warning :)

Ian

[JJ Sinclair]

OK, story time.........I was flying a test-hop of an ASW-20 after
performing a major repair (broken boom). I did some stalls & falls,
hard turnes and then ran it up to redline in 10 knot
increments...........everything checked out fine. Most of my 5000 foot
tow was used up, so I entered down-wind for 30, dropped the gear and
popped the spoilers. Just then a voice said; "Put the gear down, now
Rudy". Puzzled, I double-checked the gear and sure enough it was down!
Then it came at me again with this; "Put the gear down, now Rudy",
Business. Half smiling, I said, the gear IS DOWN, my name's not Rudy
and who the hell are you?
JJ
PS, You guessed it, the owners name was Rudy and his gear warning
system was malfunctioning.

On Nov 21, 6:19 am, nimbusgb > wrote:
> I always fit a gear warning alarm to my ships but my 'over the fence
> check' is gear check down and locked. My one wheels up, luckily on a
> deeply grassed runway was after a long hard dehydrating cross country
> terminated by a just sub Vne flyby and pullup. Top of the pullup, gear
> down, roll onto downwind, arc around to finals, line up on centreline,
> pop brakes, all looking good. fence below, check gear down and locked.
> Damn! not sure, ISNT THAT UP? Why no alarm? cycle lever. Blast of
> siren followed by soft bump and smell of overheated gelcoat.
>
> A company called elk does a combined voice and siren device in the US.http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Security/elk/ELK-Voice-Siren/
> That and a couple of timer chips and you could have a siren then a
> subltle voice reminder and then different siren then siren and some
> less than complimentary warning :)
>
> Ian

[[email protected]]

I have very limited experience sailplanes with retractable gear, so i
havent spent much time pondering the issue of gear ups in gliders. I
do have a fair amount of time in retractable gear airplanes. How
difficult and what would be the disadvantage/advantages of having the
gear mechanically interconnected to the airbrakes. Like if the gear
was up and the airbrakes were opened, the gear would be extended. It
seems that no one forgets to use the airbrakes in the pattern to land.

[[email protected]]

On Nov 21, 11:21 am, wrote:
> I have very limited experience sailplanes with retractable gear, so i
> havent spent much time pondering the issue of gear ups in gliders. I
> do have a fair amount of time in retractable gear airplanes. How
> difficult and what would be the disadvantage/advantages of having the
> gear mechanically interconnected to the airbrakes. Like if the gear
> was up and the airbrakes were opened, the gear would be extended. It
> seems that no one forgets to use the airbrakes in the pattern to land.

The gear lever in my ship has a reasonably long "throw". Not to
mention that it takes a fair amount of force to pull it through that
entire range and to get it into the "locked" position. When I use my
spoilers, so far I've typically only had to "crack them open" about a
third to half to get into my descent glide slope in the pattern. An
occasional adjustment either closing or opening, but I don't think
I've really every had to pull full spoilers yet (other than playing
around with them at altitude). Granted, I don't have a lot of flights
on this ship yet, but enough to know that interconnecting the gear to
the spoilers is something I don't think is feasible. They just are not
used in the same way as far as "handle throw" goes.

By the way, your buddy Peter Von Tresckow flies with us here in
Wisconsin.

[Nyal Williams]

One gear up landing on concrete is the best lesson,
and the only one you will ever need. You make a nice
long 'chalk' stripe and it costs you $50.00 per foot
for the distance you slide.

At 18:06 21 November 2007, Doug Hoffman wrote:
>That was a good story, JJ.
>
>I have a similar story. But with the added drama of
>first
>flight in glider type (my new to me RS-15), first flight
>with
>flaps-only glide path control, first flight with retractable
>
>gear, and only 20 hours TT flying anything.
>
>So upon entering the pattern I dropped the gear and
>when on
>final I deployed enough landing flap to activate the
>gear up
>buzzer. Wait. I had already dropped the gear. At
>least I
>thought I had. Everything was new to me so I considered
>the very
>real possibility that I had made a mistake. I double
>checked the
>position of the gear lever. It seemed ok, but there
>was still
>that darn buzzer. While pondering, this is all happening
>in a
>few short seconds, I realize that terra firma is fast
>approaching
>and this ship was going to land gear down, up, or in
>between.
>The runway was grass thankfully. So I shifted my attention
>back
>to the task at hand, making my first landing in a flaps
>only
>ship.
>
>Imagine my relief when after touchdown I realized I
>was rolling
>on the main wheel! One of the microswitches was recalcitrant
>due
>to the glider not being used for 2 years. That problem
>never
>occurred again, thankfully.
>
>But I still liked having that warning system even though
>I never
>once 'needed' it.
>--
>Regards,
>Doug
>
>
>--
>Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
>
>

[Doug Hoffman]

That was a good story, JJ.

I have a similar story. But with the added drama of first
flight in glider type (my new to me RS-15), first flight with
flaps-only glide path control, first flight with retractable
gear, and only 20 hours TT flying anything.

So upon entering the pattern I dropped the gear and when on
final I deployed enough landing flap to activate the gear up
buzzer. Wait. I had already dropped the gear. At least I
thought I had. Everything was new to me so I considered the very
real possibility that I had made a mistake. I double checked the
position of the gear lever. It seemed ok, but there was still
that darn buzzer. While pondering, this is all happening in a
few short seconds, I realize that terra firma is fast approaching
and this ship was going to land gear down, up, or in between.
The runway was grass thankfully. So I shifted my attention back
to the task at hand, making my first landing in a flaps only
ship.

Imagine my relief when after touchdown I realized I was rolling
on the main wheel! One of the microswitches was recalcitrant due
to the glider not being used for 2 years. That problem never
occurred again, thankfully.

But I still liked having that warning system even though I never
once "needed" it.
--
Regards,
Doug


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Bob Kuykendall]

On Nov 19, 7:40 pm, fred > wrote:
> ...I would like to have a stick vibrator, ( maybe that is off
> the shelf)...

Ask the kids where mommy keeps her pink flashlight. They probably
don't know what it's for, but they might know where she hides it.

So far I've built three gear warning systems from Electron Hut parts.
Typically, it's a 6-volt pezio buzzer, two microswitches, and a 9-volt
battery and holder. But that's pretty much what everybody does. A
couple random points:

* These days I'd look into replacing the buzzer with a box that plays
a recorded verbal warning, maybe from a pre-recorded .wav file. Or
maybe I'd just get a Yak Bak 2 toy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Yak_Bak) and wire Play into the pair of microswitches.

* I always use an independent battery for the gear warning. I don't
want its function dependent on the main battery.

* I mount the system parts so that I can deactivate the gear warning
if it accidently gets stuck on. I can either pull the battery or
disconnect its wire or break one of the switches.

* I either mount the system parts so that I can test its function
during pre-takeoff, or I add a test switch to do so.

* I never run the buzzer longer than necessary to test its function. I
don't want to become inured to it.

Thanks, Bob K.