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USMC CH-53E fixed landing gear?

ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

5 bullets veteran!
pilot
I’ve not seen a pic or a video of a Marine Shitter (CH-53E) flying in the last year with its gear retracted.

Has there been a change of some kind either fixing the gear down or prohibiting gear retraction?

Thanks!

 
Culturally, practically no one did it even years ago when I last flew. Enough trouble keeping them flying without a gear stuck gripe.

Didn't do much for fuel consumption or max airspeed so the risk/reward wasn't really there. In four years I remember doing so exactly twice.
 
That's interesting - You would think that at speeds required to tank/AAR the gear gives some parasite drag - but there is already all manner of stuff hanging off a contemporary 53E - I guess it doesn't matter that much.
 
ChuckMK23 said:
That's interesting - You would think that at speeds required to tank/AAR the gear gives some parasite drag - but there is already all manner of stuff hanging off a contemporary 53E - I guess it doesn't matter that much.
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At the end of the day it's a helicopter so it's pretty much all flat plate and parasitic drag. A few little wheels sticking down isn't going to add much more drag then the motors and sponsons already do.
 
mmx1 said:
Culturally, practically no one did it even years ago when I last flew. Enough trouble keeping them flying without a gear stuck gripe.

Didn't do much for fuel consumption or max airspeed so the risk/reward wasn't really there. In four years I remember doing so exactly twice.
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For years the USN 53s pinned their gear. With all of the issues they were facing the last thing the squadrons had time or manpower to worry about was the gear.
 
Pags said:
For years the USN 53s pinned their gear. With all of the issues they were facing the last thing the squadrons had time or manpower to worry about was the gear.
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Stupid 53 question of the day: Wouldn't you get some benefit if you just removed all the retraction mechanisms? Or does that become a weight and balance issue?
 
GroundPounder said:
Stupid 53 question of the day: Wouldn't you get some benefit if you just removed all the retraction mechanisms? Or does that become a weight and balance issue?
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About all you'd save on weight is the weight of the hydraulic actuators and some associated plumbing, but not any heavy structure from the struts themselves. Saving weight is really important in helicopters, even more important than fixed wing, but-

(and I'm spitballing here- I'm not a 53 guy) I think the weight of all that stuff is probably about fifty pounds, which seems like a lot of payload to be wasting on every single flight- but consider it's also about how much fuel those things burn in one minute.

Any effect on center of gravity would be a wash. The mains, which have the heaviest components, are close to the c.g. The nose gear, with lighter components, is proportionately farther away.
 
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