Not another Norfolk Island Thread!
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Originally Posted by truth boy
But once hydraulic lines are cut the gear would most likely start to fall straight away
If the above statement is correct, wouldn't this mean that a hydraulic failure in flight would see the gear extend, which could be quite undesirable at altitude, or, a long way from a suitable aerodrome?
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Yes It Does Capt Claret.. hence the term "wet footprint"...
But only if the lines fail after the one way restriction valve between the gear and the hydraulic pumps.
You can lose hydraulic pressure from the pumps in the WW and still have the gear stay in the up and locked position. I know because I've had a complete hydraulic failure in a WW, oceanic and still had the gear stay up. And theres that valve in the hydraulics diagram..
What I can't remember was if the hydraulic lines on the WW go after the valve, and if the gear does come down, does the nosewheel doors open and the nosewheel fall down into the down and locked position. There was a N2 blowdown bottle for manual gear extension...
If the nosewheel doors on the WW were open on the one sitting on the bottom at Norfolk, I suspect it will give you a pretty good indication if the gear was selected down at the time of impact, or I suppose you could just take a dive and look at the gear handle....
After looking at the video, I do also noticed that the downlocks (the diagonal strut to the main gear strut) on the main gear look fully locked in the down position.... Normally it was a check on a preflight when on the ground to ensure that the strut was straight and the red markings matched up to form a straight line, to indicated the downlocks where in the down and locked position....
But only if the lines fail after the one way restriction valve between the gear and the hydraulic pumps.
You can lose hydraulic pressure from the pumps in the WW and still have the gear stay in the up and locked position. I know because I've had a complete hydraulic failure in a WW, oceanic and still had the gear stay up. And theres that valve in the hydraulics diagram..
What I can't remember was if the hydraulic lines on the WW go after the valve, and if the gear does come down, does the nosewheel doors open and the nosewheel fall down into the down and locked position. There was a N2 blowdown bottle for manual gear extension...
If the nosewheel doors on the WW were open on the one sitting on the bottom at Norfolk, I suspect it will give you a pretty good indication if the gear was selected down at the time of impact, or I suppose you could just take a dive and look at the gear handle....
After looking at the video, I do also noticed that the downlocks (the diagonal strut to the main gear strut) on the main gear look fully locked in the down position.... Normally it was a check on a preflight when on the ground to ensure that the strut was straight and the red markings matched up to form a straight line, to indicated the downlocks where in the down and locked position....
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Capt Claret and Cypher - good posts! 
Cypher:
Video at about the 45 second mark seems to show that the NLG doors are open.
Cypher:
If the nosewheel doors on the WW were open on the one sitting on the bottom at Norfolk, I suspect it will give you a pretty good indication if the gear was selected down at the time of impact
