Enthusiest Question, Roto retracts..
Is there any real advantage to having a helicopter with a retractable landing gear. The lynx is still the fastest helo, both as a 'clean' record holder in G-LYNX and as a operational aircraft.
... But then the military is concerned with meeting capability as opposed to commercial economy. Perhaps over the service life of the air-frame a bell 222 will surpass the linx in economy figures..
It just seems counter intuitive. I can lift a 206 set of skids with one hand.. One end of it anyway. Yet there is no way i can lift the nose wheel assembly of a B200 and that doesn't factor in the weight of the ancillaries that drive it, pump, hoses, valves, hydrolic fluid tank etc.
Perhaps the truth is closer to my mate the r-22 driver's opinion. Retracts are on business helicopters for the same reason there is a big, power stealing spoiler on the trunk of Cadillacs.. Prestige.
Thanks in advance.
Jason