Hi! Ed.
Don't worry the gear goes in at an angle then seems to swing into place snug
at the top and bottom making a parallel fit to the vertical tubes with the
firewall. I encouraged mine into place with a rubber mallet . Obviously
there could be a situation where you create stresses so common sense needs
to prevail. The aim is to minimize the holes to get the top tubes snug in
the top of the tunnel corners and the bottom tubes snug in the
tunnel/cockpit floor return. Suggest you wrap the tubes with cling film when
reduxing to enable withdrawal in the event of any future mods. I also bought
some saddle washers from somewhere to give the bolts/nuts a spread on the
tubes when tightening, if you intend inserting the top tube strengthener
that we discussed u could use it now and put the full 6" pieces in and drill
through the lot at one go !
Also ensure you have adequate clearance for the top Bungee if you are mono
rig. There is no doubt that the angle of entry is could trick you into
removing too much material.
Regards
Bob Harrison G-PTAG
-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Eddie
Sent: 28 September 2000 21:05
Subject: Landing Gear Frame too tight!!
Hi all
We have a slight problem. Having cut the holes for the landing gear
frame in the firewall, we have found that it doesn't really fit
properly. In order to force it in, we would have to knock it in with a
mallet, but that would surely put a strain on the welded joints that may
cause them to crack perhaps? I dont think that they were designed with
those stresses in mind. The other option is to file away the bottom of
the bottom holes, but as it stands at the moment, they are very close to
the bottom of the fuselage already and filing them away will eat away at
the join between the cockpit module and fuselage, weakening it where you
don't want it weakened. Equally, there is no play at the top either,
well not without cutting into the cockpit module tunnel top.
So I guess the questions are, have we screwed up? Anyone else with the
same problem? and any solutions?
I would say that we would only need about another 3 to 4 mil to have a
comfortable fit, but where do we try to get that clearance, top bottom,
or another landing gear frame?
Cheers
Ed
--
////Eddie Hatcher///Bill Lams///Nick Crisp////
///////South East London Flying Group/////////
/////Our Europa(Jabiru 3300) aircraft project site is//////
http://www.crispsite.flyer.co.uk/newropa.htm
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