I am working on a retractable tail dragger. I made some estimates of the gear retracted and extended and it looks like the CG of the plane moves 2+" between the two positions. The gear is rather tall and retracts rearward and is a relatively simple but clever set of links to get the gear where it needs to be to have the tire contacts far enough forward to make it stable. That's the basic question. If it wasn't obvious the CG moves forward with the gear down and aft retracted. The airplane is single seat pusher with twin tail booms and the gear retracts into the booms. Think composite Sadler Vampire on serious steroids.
The only reference I can make in the real world is aircraft like the Dash 8 where the gear retracts behind the engines and CG but the ratio of gear weight to gross weight may not be a good comparison.
Jay K.
The only reference I can make in the real world is aircraft like the Dash 8 where the gear retracts behind the engines and CG but the ratio of gear weight to gross weight may not be a good comparison.
Jay K.
