Gear indicator problem during flameout landing
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Thanks all for a wonderful simulator.
I noticed a small issue when flying the flameout training mission (stumbled on it really due to my ignorance). On final approach I hit the gear level to drop the gear. I didn’t hear the normal gear-going-down noise, but within a second or so the green indicator lights on the panel went on. I switched to the outside view and saw the gear out, but when I touched down on the runway, I exploded. Repeated this whole thing once more with the same result (finally figured out I had to also hit the Alt gear handle, but that isn’t the point here). So, when in flameout conditions, the gear appear to deploy per the indicators and 3D visual when using the gear handle, but they aren’t really deployed. Minor thing, but thought I’d report it. Thanks!
Jason
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…did you have three green and a red light in the gear handle?
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Yes there was a red light now that you mention it. That must indicate a problem? Missed that in the manual. Still doesn’t explain why the outside view showed the gear extended though. Thanks for the clarification.
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That’s the problem - the red light in the handle indicates unsafe gear, even though you have three green. You have to have three green AND no light in the handle to know the gear are actually down and locked. You have to cross check both, and if you have either of a red light in the handle and/or no green lights you have to emergency extend the gear and should go straight to that procedure.
…don’t fret - I made the same mistake in a RL trainer. Once…
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Here is what the training manual documenting that training mission states about this:
Base key is the mid-point of the turn and should be reached no lower than 2000 feet AGL. At that point the gear should be down. The gear handle alone will not work. You must execute an alternate gear extension. Start by lowering the regular gear handle down and then use the ALT GEAR handle further left on the auxiliary console.
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…in other words, “prepare for arrival and cross-check”!
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That’s the problem - the red light in the handle indicates unsafe gear, even though you have three green. You have to have three green AND no light in the handle to know the gear are actually down and locked. You have to cross check both, and if you have either of a red light in the handle and/or no green lights you have to emergency extend the gear and should go straight to that procedure.
…don’t fret - I made the same mistake in a RL trainer. Once…
For JaguarIV and all the other folks less experienced than Stevie: The red light in the handle indicates that the gear are not in the position the handle is in, which is why it illuminates during gear transition. Pretty much what he said, but extended to more situations.