wobble2plank,
The drag would not be less during retraction because, if you select gear up, the landing gear bay doors have to open in order to allow for gear retraction, trust me those doors are massive, add that to the landing gear itself and it would cause way too much drag, so the last think you want to do in a situation near the stall or multiple engine malfunction on take off is to retract the gear...especially in JNB.
Bokkie449