Originally Posted by
Smythe
It is geared..the gear on the back of the manual trim wheel, is chain driven down to a gear on the front cable drum.
Of course I was considering switchable (mechanical or not) gear ratios.
A derailleur system would overly complicate an already complex mechanical system. If anything, any sort of variable drive system would have to be shaft driven.
If a gear change/derailleur appears beyond Boeing's engineering capacities, they may shop around at any bicycle vendor's ;-)
BTW, weren't the Wright brother bicycle makers ?