Page 35: She's got legs!

Installing the landing gear

The urge to install the landing gear has been almost overpowering lately, but doing that causes me to lose the ability of turn the fuselage on its side on the saw horses in order to work on the bits on the fuselage floor in relative comfort.  Since the controls are essentially done, I finally gave in.  I can't put

off trial fitting the wings any longer, so having the ability to easily roll the airplane out of the shop to provide room for the wings sealed the deal.  I'm showing the last picture first to reveal the installed gear since I'm so happy to see it.  Note that I also installed the entry steps to make it easier for me to get in, sit in the pilot's seat, grasp the stick and make airplane noises (yeah, I've done that a few times).

The Mothership emphasizes that the main gear legs must be primed with two-part epoxy and painted, I opted for SprayMax 2K rattle can primer.  It seems strange to have two-part paint in a spray can, but it works great.  The catalyst is in a separate bulb which is punctured to release it into the primer.  The can is then shaken for an appropriate length of time to mix in the catalyst and the spraying can begin.  It's expensive, but one can did both main gear legs and the nose fork.

The need for the new beefed-up nose fork has been hotly debated on the forum, but considering that I will have spent 80 large on this airplane, what's another $300 for peace of mind.  I primed and painted the fork at the same time as the main gear.  I used Rustoleum automotive rattle-can paint for the top coat.

I approached the gear installation with a bit of trepidation since I had earlier done Service Bulletin 12-11-09 (detailed in the post from 1-20-17) which involved drilling holes in the center channel which is the main structural member in the entire airplane.  The holes in all the pieces then had to line up to allow insertion of the bolts.  With a bit of

effort it all worked out.  This is fortunate since, considering the center channel can't be replaced, I would have been totally screwed if it hadn't worked.














The build manual says to hold each leg along with the seven other pieces shown in the picture in place while inserting the bolts.  Easier said than done.  I put a rope through the inboard center holes in all the pieces and looped it around the outboard end of the leg as shown in the picture.  The other bolts could then be inserted and torqued to spec.  The later version of the airframe comes with all the holes pre-drilled, which would make the assembly go together much easier.

At this point in the build, I've been pondering how many hours I've spent on this project.  Some builders faithfully record build time in a log.  I'm really glad I made the decision from the outset to not do this.  I'm glad I don't know.








The instructions at this point say to measure the toe in (or out) using blocks of wood held against the axles and a string stretched in the proximity of the wood blocks, affording a visual check of the toe.  Shims can be ordered which will adjust this.  Though not mentioned, allowance must be made for the taper of the axels.  The bigger concern for me, however, is that without the weight of the engine, wings, etc., there is considerable positive camber (clearly seen in the first pic).  As with most suspensions, even sophisticated automotive ones,

there will no doubt be a toe change associated with suspension compression and its attendant camber change.  Although it will be a much bigger PITA to do this later, my plan is to wait until all the weight is on the gear.