A non-jet buddy accompanied me to a jet rally recently and made the observation that he was surprised that with all of the money modelers spend on jets that the landing gear retract systems are still so unreliable and require filling for each flight. Our discussion touched on the idea of hydraulics, but I informed him that one companies attempt at this was unsuccessful.

We thought about the fact that one of the biggest changes in the hobby recently has been LiPo’s supplying huge power in a lightweight package.

Isn’t it time for manufacturers to start making electrically operated gear. Simply replace the air cylinder with a motor/wormgear assembly. You would need sensors to determine end travel and an ecu to control the units. I imagine that a 4200mah (7 oz) could power the system all day. With the right gearing you’d have tons of torque and the scale guys would get their realistic retract speed.

How about small self contained units for doors and some sort of solenoid for brakes, running off the same ecu with multiple connections to the Rx?