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Landing Gear Preflight: Know How It Works

You don’t get to see the wheels come up and down from your perch in the cockpit, so it’s worth observing a gear cycle on jack stands in the shop. Image courtesy of Aviation Safety Magazine.

As we sift through the NTSB accident reports each month, we’re consistently finding landing gear mishaps that might have been avoided if the pilot spent a little extra time inspecting the gear during the preflight, or simply knew how to recognize potential problem areas before launching.

In this quick-hitter tech article, we’ll look at the things you and your mechanic should be inspecting in hopes that you won’t join the ranks of “those who have” landed gear up.