I did the nose gear strut today - and a bunch of other stuff that had to be done to make room: the existing exhaust had to go, but it was a very poor (read: fire hazard) design, so no loss there (although I plan to use the parts I cut up to make a new exhaust), and a few other things too - but all of it was stuff that 'had to go' anyway.... It's also much easier to install/remove engine mount bolts when you have a cherry-picker....
With that done, it has become apparent that the stock retracts are useless for anything but the stock gear configuration (as you said) - specifically, even at 'minimum height', the nose-gear is too tall (to the point where with wheel & tire, you would be sitting in a tail-dragger ground attitude, on tri-gear . I'm buying Diehl mains from another member, and will be using those instead. As for patching holes, if I use foam sheets for my replacement core material, what kind should I use? Will foam-board insulation work? I I cut away the de-laminated skin on the elevator, and found a curious mix of a somewhat light/fragile yellow foam (similar to what the rest of this plane is made of, and one small area of what can only be described as packing-material style white styrofoam (although it looked sprayed in).... Yeuck.... At this point, I plan on taking the board's advice, and doing a core-replacement patch with solid sheets rather than a fill-patch with Great Stuff.... I just need to know what type of foam to use, or if it makes a difference (the pink wall-insulation sheets are the first thing that came to my mind as a source of foam - and there's a Home Depot right by where I'm working on the plane).... Epoxy resin & glass-cloth I can get from any of the boat supply stores in the area (Gulf Coast of FL - no shortage of boat shops).... - Dave On 1/7/2012 12:23 PM, Larry&Sallie Flesner wrote: > At 11:07 AM 1/7/2012, you wrote: >> 2) Gear: I've already bought the Diehl nose-gear kit. The >> 'reverse-the-mains' thing is just my attempt to save some time& money >> by re-using the existing gear (but making it fixed, not retract)& the >> existing holes in the spar. If that can't be done, I'll buy Mr Root's >> set of (assembled) Diehl mains that he's selling here. > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Using the retracts in a "reverse" mode will require more work than > installing Diehl main gear as the wheel / ground contact point on a > tri gear must be behind the main spar by several inches. Also, check > the height of the retracts compared to Diehl gear for an acceptable > three point attitude. I can't see this as a "workable" > solution. Also, I'd be leery of the expanding foam as a fix as there > is no way to tell when it will quit expanding. I would suggest > cutting out the damaged area with a dremel, removing the foam down to > the skin on the opposite side, glue in a solid block of foam to fill > the void, and glass repair the area. Just my humble opinion........... > > Larry Flesner > P.S. Also, the Diehl setup is lighter than all the retract hardware. > > > _______________________________________ > 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
