F-14/F-15 Landing Gear/MiG-29s

[Porter Al Maj 335 FS/SMO <al.porter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This may be a little late (problems with MSN!)

IMHO, Glenn Beckerdite should win the Montreal ride.  The F-15's gear
retracts forward (as do a lot of aircraft) so that in the event of hydraulic
failure, the emergency gear extension system releases the uplock, allowing
the gear to drop into the slipstream, which then pushes it back (hopefully
to the locked position!).  I'm not in the Navy, but my guess is exactly the
same as Glenn's for the Tomcat -- the gear has to withstand the catapult,
and thus folds rearward on retraction.

My 2 cents on the MiG-29:  Yes, it's very maneuverable, but it smokes like
hell (easy to spot), its avionics/cockpit is low-tech, and a few other
things I can't mention...

Al Porter, currently the maintenance officer for a combat squadron of
F-15Es.
Goldsboro, NC
91 164S (Waved to a red Spider on NC 96 last Friday -- anyone on the
digest?)
85 GTV6

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