Landing gear door operation

Sparky's got it correct on those two birds (EA-6B Prowler & A-6E Intruder).
I spent about half my career keeping those turds fixed so he could go
flying. I QA'd lots of late night "drop checks" at the Rock and afloat
making sure those gear doors worked as required.

Or generally, is there some reason that some
jets are designed with gear doors that stay open, while others have
doors that close after the gear are extended?
I can't speak for the others, but in the case of the Prowler, I understand
it was to address a low speed performance issue (as it was explained to a
groundpounder).

Is this due to Navy
"culture" or somehow related to a safety/reliability issue for
carrier-based operation?
Actually my gut tells me that due to the very demanding nature of carrier
landings (high angle of attack, high rate of descent, critical application
of power, etc, etc) I'd say that the pilot must have absolute control of the
aircraft and research has shown that closing the gear doors (whenever
possible) can contribute to smoother airflow and thus better
controllability. What a mouthfull. You got the idea.


the Prowler had a provision for
the forward gear doors to be opened on deck by the plane captain.
Gotta make sure there are no hydraulic leaks before you go off the pointy
end there Sparky. We want you all to make it a round trip you know!

Interesting looking back for a moment.

Larry
AECS (AW/SW/MTS)
Disabled Combat Veteran
USN Retired

20 years of Navy in my rear view mirror
and getting further away every day ;-)







"Elmshoot" wrote in message
...
Elliot,
On the A-6 Intruder the forward gear doors stayed open when the gear was
down.
On the EA-6B the forward gear door was only open while the gear was in
transit
then it closed. When the gear was extended via the emergency gear
extention the
forward gear doors stayed open with a note in the Natops manual about
added
drag from the doors being open and higher fuel burn. The Prowler had
better
throttle response than the Intruder. However on speed was slightly on the
back
side of the power curve so the reducton of drag was felt to be warneted.
Now before you get your knickers in a twist, the Prowler had a provision
for
the forward gear doors to be opened on deck by the plane captain. So
almost all
pictures of the Prowler on deck will show the gear doors open. 1400 hrs in
the
A-6 and 2200 in the Prowler are my reference for the above.
I don't know of and have never heard of any conspierency for some standard
configuration for the gear doors. Frankly I have never even though about
the
question.
Sparky



In another online forum, it has been claimed that on the F-18, F-14,
F-4, and possibly F-8, A-7, A-6, and A-4, all the landing gear doors
stay open when the gear are extended. While typically (or at least in
most other military jets), some of the landing gear doors open only
during extension/retraction, and are closed while the gear are
extended.

Can anyone comment on the extent to which this is true? If so, there's
an obvious pattern of this characteristic appearing in fighter/attack
jets which were originally designed for the Navy. Is this due to Navy
"culture" or somehow related to a safety/reliability issue for
carrier-based operation? Or generally, is there some reason that some
jets are designed with gear doors that stay open, while others have
doors that close after the gear are extended? (The only reasons I've
seen that make sense are simplicity versus air drag and, in some
cases, ground clearance.)

Many thanks in advance.

--Elliot Wilen