Retract Gear

[Tosh McCaber]

I wonder if I could have a bit of advice please? 

 

I have just bought the set of (Chinese- what else?) retract gear- see photos.  Whilst virtually the same gear was advertised on AliExpress, I saw this set on EBay.  To be safe, I ordered the gearfrom there on 06 November, and, as advertised, it very satisfactorily came through my door this afternoon (30 November)!  Cost £31.50, which I thought was very reasonable.  (I've since seen the same U/C on EBay for £18.00!!)

 

I cannot complain about the quality of the gear-  as usual, I can't understand how the  Chinese can produce hi-tech  masterpieces, such as this U/C, and many other products, such as miniature (and sub- miniature) servos for such prices!  It leaves the UK in the dark ages of engineering.

 

Sorry to be (as usual), so long winded!  OK- back to my advice! 

 

The retract gear was/ is advertised as being suitable for 3.5kg models.  I was hoping to install the gear into a 48" span model, which will probably end up around this weight.  But, looking at the gear, I wonder if it's capable of supporting such a (sports) model- the gear looks a tad delicate?

 

I wonder if anyone has had experience with this gear?  It looks as though it would perhaps be more suited to a smaller model?

[RottenRow]

They would possibly support a model weighing 3.5kg, but whether they would stand up to takeoffs and landings is another matter.

They look very similar to the units fitted to my HobbyKing (Durafly) Vampire, that has a flying weight of 1.1kg and a wingspan of about a metre.

There are a number of different retracts available that look like yours, in varying sizes. Are you sure the ones supplied are the ones you ordered? Can you tell the size of the advertised ones by photographs? Or did they give dimensions?

Brian.

[Nigel R]

1 hour ago, Tosh McCaber said:

I can't understand how the  Chinese can produce hi-tech  masterpieces, such as this U/C, and many other products, such as miniature (and sub- miniature) servos

 

zero product development

zero QC

zero warranty

near-to-slave labour conditions in factories

near-to-slave labour pay for workers

 

now try turning a profit on the same artefact, except covering R&D costs, doing production line quality, offering warranty services, paying workers a fair rate and with decent conditions.

[Simon Chaddock]

I suspect to stand much chance of a reasonable life you would have to replace those very stiff looking legs with some that had some 'give' in them unless you can guarantee 'greaser' landings every time and on a smooth runway. 

[Gary Clark 1]

You'll probably find the legs will bend really easily so you'll need to replace with piano wire to save bending back every flight. I've had a mix with retracts like this, some work for years, some don't work!

 

Gary

 

 

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

I have a few of them, if you land 'properly' they do last, I also have the tiny ones with 3mm piano wire legs in my .60 powered Bell 222,

and they have been going for ages without a hitch,,,

[Tosh McCaber]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. 

 

Coming back to Nigel's reply- what do we do, to stem the tide of high tech (and eveything else!) Chinese imports?  We can't/ don't make them ourselves.

 

As well, any time we develop a successful product in the UK, it's inevitably sold abroad.

 

I guess we're doomed!!

Edited December 1, 2022 by Tosh McCaber
misspelling!

[Tosh McCaber]

Are yours the same size as the ones that I've bought Paul.  What size model would be suitable, do you think?

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

12 minutes ago, Tosh McCaber said:

Are yours the same size as the ones that I've bought Paul.  What size model would be suitable, do you think?

Tell me what size yours are and I will see what they are in.

[Bruce Collinson]

8 hours ago, Tosh McCaber said:

Thanks for the replies so far guys. 

 

Coming back to Nigel's reply- what do we do, to stem the tide of high tech (and eveything else!) Chinese imports?  We can't/ don't make them ourselves.

 

As well, any time we develop a successful product in the UK, it's inevitably sold abroad.

 

I guess we're doomed!!

Buy from Taiwan, S. Korea, Czech Republic etc.   Loads of our stuff made there.   Or, buy the Chinese stuff if you must but from a UK retailer, then you've got recourse and an onshore business is making a living too.

[leccyflyer]

Those look a bit smaller than the ones that you sent me a link to, Tosh - IIRC those ones had 4mm stub mounts for fitting an oleo? The legs on the ones that you have pictured look very short indeed.

Could you measure the units and make sure that they are what you had ordered - there are at least three different sizes of similar looking retract units, at the small end, for different model sizes. The quality manufacturers - like eFlite for example - have ratings like 10-15, 15-25, 25-46, 60-120 etc, which are fairly self explanatory - but as I said, navigating through the OEM units is a bit more tricky.

[Tosh McCaber]

Thanks for that- looks like you're right Leccy.  I just checked back on the retract description.  The ones that I ordered are supposed to be 73.5mm long, 44mm wide with a 5mm landing strut.  The ones delivered are55mm long, 32mm wide with a 3mm landing strut!  I thought that they were smallish!

 

Oh well- back to the seller!  In a way, just as well that I bought them through EBay/ Paypal in the UK, as opposed to AliExpress in China!  (Although it looks like they came directly from China, and the sales page says that buyer pays for return postage!)

I'll update you as and when I have (hopefully) progress!  Lucky that they're for a future project!

Thanks to all.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Tosh McCaber

[Simon Chaddock]

Tosh

You could always build another smaller lighter plane for them. 😉

[RottenRow]

10 hours ago, Tosh McCaber said:

Thanks for that- looks like you're right Leccy.  I just checked back on the retract description.  The ones that I ordered are supposed to be 73.5mm long, 44mm wide with a 5mm landing strut.  The ones delivered are55mm long, 32mm wide with a 3mm landing strut!  I thought that they were smallish!

 

Pretty much as I suggested in my posting (the first reply in the thread…).

 

10 hours ago, Tosh McCaber said:

(Although it looks like they came directly from China, and the sales page says that buyer pays for return postage!)

Do an ‘item not as described’ claim on eBay, you’ll get a refund. If the seller wants the incorrect units back they will have to pay the costs.

 

Brian.

[Nigel R]

10 hours ago, Tosh McCaber said:

(Although it looks like they came directly from China, and the sales page says that buyer pays for return postage!)

 

Somewhat certain that your contract lies with ebay?

 

I forget now - the law changed a year or two ago.

 

Anyway, I had a similar problem with something that was "in the UK" according to the listing (but took a long time to arrive direct from china) - the seller moaned a lot but eventually refunded.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Here are the measurements of the baseplates, based on a proper runway even gravel but not grass,

 

On my Bell 222 .60 powered plastic 30 x 35mm, probably good for a plane weighing less than 2 kilos.

Kwik fly 40 x 45mm probably up to 3 maybe 3.5 kilos

Marutaka Spitfire ( enya 90 ) and Mirage 2000 ( piped 60 ) aluminium ones 48 x 50mm  up to around 4 kilos

and all my other stuff the big HK/Ali stuff at around 46€ at the moment, all good even at 6 + kilos.

 

 I hope this helps.