My entry to this list, a few weeks back, was due to the purchase of a completed KR2 from an estate, back in the states (I'm in AFG right now).
The aircraft was issued it's N-Number (N86KR) in 1986, and is in need of 3 things, it seems - wing pins, some avionics replacement, and conversion to tri-gear (personal preference). The pins can be bought from NVAero from what I understand, I've got the avionics I plan to install back home - those are the 'easy' jobs.. The tri-gear conversion seems the most difficult, and has been the subject of much thought & online research, resulting in the following plan (which I'm seeking comments/advice on).... 1) Components would be the original KR2 spring-bar mains, and the Diehl nose gear kit as sold by NVAero. 2) The 'objective' is to convert the plane from taildragger to tri-gear 'in-place', prior to ferrying it from where it is now to my home state. 3) From what I've read here and online, the largest block of time (and largest requirement for jigs/tools/space/etc) in doing this work is the post-conversion re-assembly - which generally is done by flipping the plane and re-glassing the area cut open to gain access to the spar/gear. What I have come up with, is a *possible* process to accomplish this conversion without flipping the plane, by raising it up on jacks, cutting away a rectangular patch of skin (and saving it in-tact for later) to create access to the mains. At this point, the gear could be 'flipped' from the front of the spar to the back, and then the rectangular patch would be re-attached with doublers around the edges (inside the stub wings, not out in the airstream) and Hysol 9309.3 (microbead structural adhesive) for an adhesive and gap filler. Properly done (eg, keeping the patch sucked up tight to the plane while the Hysol cures) it should be just about as strong as the original structure, and once sanded & painted, invisible... Now, I'm not familliar with the specifics of the KR2 design yet (this is a mix of army helo repair techniques, online research, and so on), beyond what I can read online. Apart from a small bit of added weight (from 4 doubler strips and the 9309), do you guys see any issues with this plan? Is it going to create issues with the structure of the stub-wings? Am I going to have trouble cutting out the 'access patch' and separating the glass skin from the rest of the structure (Say, due to the skin being adhered to foam & wood structure, making intact removal of a cut-out section impossible) I'm submitting this for comment, because you guys know alot more about these planes than I do at this point... For all I know, there is a very good reason why everyone flips the plane & does it the 'conventional' way - or maybe it's just that's the way that always comes to mind... I just started from 'assume you cannot flip the bird, what would you do to fix a hole in the bottom (that conveniently happens to expose the spar & landing gear)...
