WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN!

In 1973, a product was introduced to the radio control market that would forever contribute to the design of every scale model and pattern model on the planet.

- FRANK TIANO

The name of the product was Rom-Aire, and some of you will remember the product as the first retractable landing gear ever! Rom-Aire gear were crude by today’s standards, featuring a simple slam up and slam down operation. After a coupla years, other companies found ways around the patent and developed their own style of retracts and eventually we had some that could be slowed down, interfaced with gear door operation and do a great job in models more than 7 pounds. Some of the companies who developed retract gear over the years include Spring-Air, Century Jet, Dave Platt Models, BVM, and Robart Mfg.

Fast forward to 2020 and we find that many models require a custom set of landing gear—especially scale models. Retract angles, strut diameters, knee joints, pivot , and a host of other intricacies determine what the final custom gear will look like, and cost! For the average large, prop driven, scale model, Robart Mfg. is/was the primary source for gear. But as scale models became larger more intricate landing gear became a necessity. The one company that jumped in with all three feet to make scale looking—and operating—gear with their associated links and struts is Sierra Giant Scale. For those new to big scale models, Sierra is a large machine shop enterprise, making everything imaginable, like parts for NASA, to rotating gear for the huge CARF Models Corsair.