@jmonroe Yes, the skis do retract. Somewhat. They are affixed to the landing gear so that when the pilot selects "gear up" the wheels and the skis move up. The skis move up flush to aerodynamic fairings (you can see these in the photo - especially the nose gear) The skis can move independently, so the wheels can remain up when landing on the skis on snow. To land on pavement, the wheels extend a bit below the skis - again visible in this photo. These are based out of KSCH, Schenectady New York, the 109th NYANG squadron.

Written on 2020年05月29日

The retracted landing gear is, by designers' intent, supposed to stick out a bit as seen in this photo. The gear retracted to improve aerodynamics (reduced drag) but if you look closely, the bottoms of the tires are lower than everything else except the props. This was intentional - if the crew was unable to lower one or both main gear, they could land with the gear up and only cause damage to the props and engines if the props were turning. This thing was designed with toughness in mind!

Written on 2019年06月21日