Install mechanical retracts

Model Airplane News, May 2002 by Bell, Rick

Landing-gear upgrade made easy

Retractable landing gear look great and they are the finishing touch to many scale models; I've also found that mechani cal retracts are a great way to add realism. They're light, reliable, inexpensive, easy to install, require very little maintenance and come in sizes to suit most models. With a little extra effort during construction, you can easily enhance your model's scale looks and also reduce drag.

For this article, I used Kyosho's Spitfire wing and Hobbico mechanical retracts. Although the Spitfire is an ARF, any wing that has room for the wheels inside it can be modified for retracts. I'll show you how to correctly set them up; let's take a look.

Hobbico; distributed by Great Planes Model Distributors, P.O. Box 9021, Champaign, IL 618269021; (800) 682-8948; fax (217) 398-0008; www.hobbico.com.

Kyosho; distributed by Great Planes Model Distributors, P.O. Box 9021, Champaign, IL 618269021; (800) 682-8948; (217) 398-6300; fax (217) 398-1104; www.kyosho.com.