Ahhhh the great African Urban Ledgend way of understanding King Airs
Max Torque: A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing....knowledge you pick up in a bar can be even more hazardous. For starters that CB next to the gear handle is the "Landing Gear Relay" CB and not the Solenoid (solenoid is what stops you pulling the gear up on the ground)....two very different functions. The Relay CB doesn't protect the motor in any way, it is put there to give the pilot control over the actual relay so you can do things like manual gear extensions, over ride the Landing Gear motor if necessary etc.
As for opening up the floor boards and re-setting breakers....Why do you think Beech went to all the effort to keep that overload protection circuit away from the pilots???? 200 AMPs is a huge current, nearly 15 times that that comes out of your household socket. At the risk of being too brief about the system, the gear motor has a clutch that disengages the motor from the the torque shafts etc. to prevent damage should the system friction exceed a preset value. The manual system does not have this protection (that's why you stop pumping as soon as you get 3 greens) and yes you are stronger than the motors clutch, sure you might need to use leverage as a last resort.
Hope the above prevents a future gear up landing with a cabin fire going at the same time!
_____________________________
King Air 200 Training Captain for a large North American King Air opr.
{Edited to tone down statement}
[ 08 November 2001: Message edited by: drop bags bar ]