Stan wrote: > I was looking in to the landing gear for a Kr2S.... > Would I be ahead to bend something like this in the press brake or go > the Deli Gear route?
The Diehl gear consists of two cast aluminum spar brackets, two lower axle attach brackets, and two Scotchply fiberglass gear legs connecting the two. I don't have personal experience with the aluminum gear legs, which is why I haven't piped up on this until now. But I do know somebody that had it, Troy Petteway. I believe his plane used the normal spar castings, but he used aluminum gear legs. He got them from Steve Bennett. That way there's no bending involved. He did manage to break one in an engine-out landing on curvy road, but I have also broken a Scotchply gear in a similar situation. My first landing was 5.5g's, so they were already proven to exceed the design parameters. It obviously works, but I wouldn't want to put a continuous aluminum gear leg under my plane unless I'd built a bunch of them and they tested with no failures (think minimum bend radius stuff), or somebody else had done the same. Grove Aircraft makes bent aluminum gear that is one piece, and I'm pretty sure Rand Robinson sold something similar, if not exactly that. See http://www.groveaircraft.com/landing_gear.html for plenty of options. They also sell aluminum gear legs that could be used with spar brackets. Troy's opinion was that the aluminum was more springy than the Scotchply, which has some slight amount more damping. That might have been a function of loading though. That's all I can offer you on that comparison...no real facts. See http://www.n56ml.com/kgear.html for more on what Diehl gear looks like. nvAero sells them now, as well as Scotchply gear legs. Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com http://www.n56ml.com
