I have found that the landing gear uplock system as constructed per the plans, regardless of adjustments requires too much force for an avergae person to opperate easily. The uplock hooks are a safety device and should be in the aircraft. Hence, I looked for the cause of the problem. If I remove the springs from the main gear uplock hooks it is easy to use the lever for the gear. Therefore, a way had to be found to remove the force of the springs in the down direction of lever movement since the springs are the source of the need for excess force. One can not remove the springs themselves as they are necessary to pull the uplock hooks back into place. Hence, I have chosen to add 100 pound pull solinoids to pull the springs when the landing gear lever is being moved into the down position. The solinoids are actually made for hot rod applications relative to the use of old door latches. The ones I am using are by Autoloc and are known as SL100 units. The basic location and first solenoid assembly were completed. See the next entry for additional information.
