Joe, That is encouraging , I just bought a project KR2, it hasa retractable main gear and tail wheel. If you give assistance on how did you install and convert the KR2 to nose wheel. Please contact me and any one had expertise on that subject. Thank you in advance.
Nagy Joe Beyer <fly...@spiretech.com> wrote: I have flown both the tail wheel and nose wheel gear on my KR-2 and by far the nose wheel is the most practical, due to the increased visibility and superior ground handling characteristics. One bad thing with the nose wheel is that if you break it you won't take off, whereas with a bent tail wheel you can still take off if you had to. At the speed the KR flies the added drag isn't very great and with the added weight, (about 10 lbs in my case) it is in the right place, up in the nose. I designed my own landing gear and have had no problems with the mains but a few with the nose gear. I've used a hand truck wheel with the cheap bearings. They work well but after a few landings they will buzz. When that happens then it's time to upgrade to the more expensive ones. Last week the nose bearings went out so I replaced them for under ten dollars. They're rated for about 5mph. but if you keep them greased up real well they can go a lot faster. Tire pressure is at 22psi. with no shimmy problems. I use 4ea. bellview washers stacked so there is a preload on the spindle, which is made of 3/4" cold rolled steel. Recently my throttle was set too high and I had some trouble slowing down and that put some extra load on the nose wheel. With the bellview washers there are no shimmy problems, and operating on grass isn't too much different than asphalt. The main wheels are Azusa's with drum brakes and are good for steering and parking but not as good for stopping. I use the landing roll for that. I'm in the habit now of staying off of the brakes right after touch down. I think my next upgrade will be to install tapered roller bearings up in the nose gear. -Joe _______________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html nagy hussein --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
