Bristol Britannia
One of our Brits suffered an U/C problem, in as much that it was retracted on takeoff and damage noises were heard also flying control probs . After one or two down selections, much to the relief of the crew ,three greens indicated and the a/c was flown home in that position, and landed safely. On examination it was found to have damage to a main u/c door plus bent flying control rods nearby .
In simple terms, the doors had retracted before the u/c.
Traced to a faulty sequence valve and repairs etc, many retractions were carried out and all seemed OK but just for luck one more was carried out and the same snag was reproduced(no damage thank God).
It transpired that some of the sequence valves had been incorrectlly assembled during overhaul (not our companies fault), so panic did set . All was resolved in the end, but Murfies's law was alive and well.
On a lighter note, the story goes that on a night take off from Spain a Brit would not pressurise and climbing through the hatch access to the forward freight hold, passed the suitcases, the F/E saw a fantastic aeriel night shot of a Spanish city from the bay . Say no more, but red faces all around and checking hold doors on walkrounds and faulty indicators had somthing to do with it .
Merv