"Dale" wrote in message news:me-

Again, no "over center" lock. Yes, you can retract the gear on the
ground. On the B-17 I flew there was a "weight on wheels" switch to
prevent this but this was an add-on and might not be on all B-17s flying
today.

The B-17 I was most recently involved with didn't have such a switch and the
engineer gave us specific warning not to bump the landing gear switch, ever.
(The master had to be on, but for safety we always assumed it was.)

-c