Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant
Damage to the gear lock could also explain a gear dropping, as could excessive G-loads or severed cables, but I still hold that the main reason that gears, flaps and other plane parts dropped when damaged was due to hydraulic failure.
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All planes with retractable gear had 2 gear locks (one for each gear position) for each gear leg. And ONLY this locks were holding the gear in terminal positions, not hydraulic, or air pressure, or mechanical force from gear actuator (depending on how the gear was operated). The pressure was sent in the system ONLY when the gear was either retracted, or extended.
So, I repeat again:
gear drop can be caused ONLY by lock damage.
However, it is quite possible, that hydraulic, or pneumatic lines, or whatever lines were used to operate gear could be damaged as well at hte same instance, as the locks, since they were usually located near the locks. Yet again, their damage is not related to the effect of gear drop.
PS Hydraulic fluid doesn't burn. The fire was probably from small fuel tanks, located on the front edge of Hurri wing. There is nothing in the video, that may hint, what caused the gear to extend.
PPS And after reading Hurri operating manual, I tend to believe, that in this particular case the pilot under attack occasionally engaged emergency gear down pedal, which releases the upper gear lock and lets gear to drop down under their own weight.