Pilot's tip of the week

When to Raise the Gear?

Subscriber question:

"I've flown with two different instructors in my Piper Arrow. One says to retract the landing gear as soon as a positive rate of climb is established. The other says to retract the gear once I'm out of usable runway. Which is the better technique?" —Dean R.

When do you raise the landing gear?

(NEW) VFR Mastery scenario #93 “Orphan of the Magenta Line” is now available. Skirting the DC SFRA and Philadelphia Bravo with your iPad seemed simple, until that iPad displayed a low battery warning. You realize your charger has been dead the entire flight. You stop the music on your phone and check its battery … 2%. So much for redundancy. You’re just southeast of the SFRA, threading between restricted areas. You’ve flown this route before, so maybe you can make a plan to navigate with the limited juice you have left along with ATC assistance. Or is it smarter to land and recharge? Watch the Intro video.

Get the Pilot’s Tip of the Week

Sign up here to receive tips like this every week along with videos, quizzes and more.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.