Pilots Notes - Take off then raise gear

[Leading Observer]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1252565079662485504

[scooter]

Gotta love Ryan Reynolds' comment:

[rickshaw]

It was a lesson I read about with the Trent Meteor.  Apparently, in the normal Meteor it was a "trick" to raise the gear before the plane rotated.   This would get it airborne slightly faster apparently.  Well, a pilot who was qualified on the Meteor was chosen to test the version with the Trent turboprops.  He tried the same trick only to shear a few inches off the tips of his propellers.   

[PR19_Kit]

The absolute opposite was the case with the Canberra PR9. The big bore Avons that the PR9 had were so powerful that they only needed 80% throttle to take-off and when off the ground they had to get the gear up VERY quickly or the aircraft would exceed the max. gear down speed before the airfield perimeter!

The alternative was to haul the nose up and climb out at 45 deg plus to keep the speed down.

[perttime]

There's photos on the internet of Seafire XVII SX336 very low, right after take off and raising the gear. Some comments suggest that the need to switch hands for raising the gear on Spitfire variants may have contributed to the low altitude.

[PR19_Kit]

IIRC it was the early Spitfire variants that had the 'cross hands' problem. By the time the later ones came along they'd sorted it.

[perttime]

This Spitfire Mk XVI has the "chassis lever" on the right and engine controls on the left: http://hoestenmodel.club/wp/dt_gallery/supermarine-spitfire-lf-mk-xvie/

Here's SX336, with "chassis lever" on the right: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rinkratz/3955181539/in/photostream/