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

 

Retracts offer a little more speed, which may be beneficial for bragging rights for marketing purposes.

The faster you go the more significant the drag reduction, so if the mission is go very fast over a long range, then the drag savings results in longer range even with the extra weight.

 

@ rickair7777. Of course. I knew that if i think about if. Its one of the cardinals; everything is a trade-off.

Thanks for jolting my brain.

Jason