Hello All,
I recently purchased an F-6F Hellcat - 90 ARF That I plan on building in the near future. I am going to put Cermark's MLD-28S Gas Engine in it and I am wanting to put retracts but I decided not to put Air Retratcs but Mechanical Gear Retracts. Does anyone have a good idea of a good brand and where to find mechanical retracts for this 90 Size aircraft???

Please LMK,
Thanks for reading...

Cole Mayfield

mechanical retracts have a limit on the weight of the wheel they can lift,they are usually good for .60 size and under due to the wheel size and weight.you may find that you will have to go air or electric on that size hellcat

Ok Thanks that makes since, So how about electric retracts... anyone have any good brands for electric retracts???

The company below makes electric retracts. I do not know how good they are .... or how good electric retracts are in general. I have always user pneumatic (air) systems from Robart and never had a problem. (And, because I have never had a problem with air systems .... I will probably never try an electric ones)


Bob

http://www.lado-tech.net/

I think you'll find that Lado is out of stock on all thier retracts. Why so negative on air operated retracts?.

First... Thank all of you guys for the help on the retracts...

2nd... I really would love to get air retracts for the plane but there are two things from stopping me... First the Robart retracts that fit and operate strictly for the hellcat i was told were discontinued and the second thing is at the club where i fly alot of people have problems w/ air... idk why ?

Cole Mayfield

Lado electric retracts Are a wonderful product ! once you put these in an aircraft you will never ! and I repeat never ! use anything else again , however this company has had quite a few growing pains with shipping and stock etc , however if you browse on here look for a thread that is titled lado retracts do they really exist ? you will see the most recent post point to a business that has grown and gotten very good at what they do , in the past there have been guys waiting up to a year or more without canceling there order , (a testament to what a great product ) goes to show the product was and still is more then worth the wait , but you won't have to wait very long I own 3 sets and will be ordering a few more soon , check out there website for more info

sierra retracts are expensive but will work better than robart or cjm in that size helcat

I use Springair 103's in both my thirtyeights and love them. Electric is and always been a dead end with apparently one company currently trying to produce them sporatically. With the economy being such as it is a tiny company with out a hugh product line has a rough road. In the past Likes line also produced magnificient sets but are long gone.

True there is a learning curve with air types but do not delude yourself the same applies to mechanicals also. Even with lighter airplanes the folks have just as much trouble with them all the time. No matter what you do each type carrys a learning curve that must be traversed for any success at all. With Electrics, they have always been just lurking around the fringe of success because of there excessive cost among other things.

John

Cole, go for the Lado electric retracts. I put them in my P-47 and they are outstanding. You have no mechanical linkage to deal with and no air tanks, hoses or valves to leak. You just plug the Lados into your receiver and that's it. They seem a little expensive at first but not really much more than a set of quality metal mechanical retracts & servo or a good set or air retracts. Whatever you decide on, get good quality. There's nothing more frustrating than cheap landing gear.

Ok.... Thanks Everyone... I am going to go ahead and go with the Lado-Tech Retracts... Know do they make the Hellcat ones.... They have to make rotate and then close.... I cant find the right ones on there web site... anyone have any ideas.... ???

Thanks Everyone,
Cole Mayfield

Which Hellcat do you have? Lado does make some rotating retracts but it looks like they are out of stock. http://www.lado-tech.net/proddetail.php?prod=60-2

When will they get them back in stock? Who knows... They also have electric actuators that you could adapt to Robart retracts: http://www.lado-tech.net/products.php?cat=7 Of course those appear to be out of stock too. If the Lado's take too long to get, check with Randy out at the field. I believe he had a CMP Hellcat if I remember correctly so he'll likely know what is out there.