Originally Posted by
TeeS
Hi 212man, it is a long time since I flew retractable undercarriage aircraft but I always thought/assumed that the gear was retracted as soon as possible after TDP in order to minimise drag during the acceleration to Vtoss/Vy, I do wonder whether this was another hang over from fixed wing A/C where the target speeds are higher and so the drag had a bigger influence. Obviously those operating single pilot might feel there would be more important considerations during a busy stage of flight!
Cheers TeeS
TeeS, no the certification and so hence RFM profiles assume that the gear is left down until Vy and 200 ft agl. for a conventional accelerating departure as it is assumed that the pilot/crew are too busy concentrating on achieving the first segment climb at Vtoss to be operating any other controls. For a procedure where the TDP is already above 200 ft I would assume that retraction would take place at Vy.
and less stress to the tail rotor
Chopjock - what stress are you talking about? This is a tail rotor on a Part 29/CS29 certified modern machine, not something on a balsa wood aeroplane with a wind up propeller. Do you seriously think that a gentle climbing imanoeuvre is somehow placing any components in jeopardy?