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Rob,
Unfortunately the factory failed to mention that the reamer supplied (as with
most reamers) is tapered at the end, whereas the supplied inserts are not.
The tapered portion of the reamer is about 1 inch long, the rest being the
correct dimension.
This means that no matter how big a hammer you use, the F****ing things will
never go all the way in.
The easy solution which will only work if you do it before jamming the insert
in the tube is to file down the end of the taper so that it fits all the way
- you will need a lathe or drill to do this.
I didnt bother pre priming the inserts or tube, simply coated everything with
red lead primer before assembly and hammered the inserts into place. Once
the primer sets there is no way anything will ever come apart.
If you have a situation where the inserts are jammed halfway into the tube,
your only option is to saw off the protruding end (of the insert), as I
believe many builders have done. The inserts are of such a length that they
go all the way up to the bolts which attach the frame to the fuselage. As
long as there is no more than about an inch protruding from the end the
inserts will be doing their job and sawing off the excess should not weaken
the finished job.
As a disclaimer I guess I should say clear this with your inspector or the
Europa folks first (before reaching for the hacksaw)
Good luck,
Carl Pattinson
PS: Hopefully all that pounding hasnt damaged the fuselage surrounding the
frame or the alloy plates bonded into the structure. Ideally there should be
somebody holding a large lump of steel (EG: a big hammer - American or
otherwise !!!) at the other end of the tube (within the frame) that you are
hammering on. This should speed up the insertion process and minimise any
damage to the surrounding structures. You may need a midget with long arms
to hold the hammer.
----- Original Message -----
From: Rob Housman
To: europa-list@matronics.com
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 3:51 PM
Subject: Europa-List: Mod 72 - Undercarriage mounting frame strengthening
Having been working mostly on those factory mandated or recommended
modifications of late, I now realize that it is much easier to build an
airplane than it is to repair one. Mod 70 (Mass balance arm) was merely
tedious, working deep in the tailcone, one handed, through small access
holes, but Mod 73 (Tailplane retention) and Mod 59 (Shimmy damper) did not
go well when following the written procedures, and now with Mod 72 there is
more of that wonderful English understatement: "Insert the tubes - they will
probably need a light tap to fit them" it says in the procedure. English
hammers must be considerably larger and heavier than American hammers (or
16.5 mm reamers must be a bit larger) because "a light tap" does nothing.
After pounding away for entirely too long, and peening the ends of the tubes
where the hammer repeatedly struck, I finally fabricated a steel spud to put
between the offending pin and the hammer. This made it easier to keep
pounding with less damage to the pins, or to the adjacent smaller diameter
tubes to which the engine mounts attach if I were to miss the target. The
steel spud is starting to look like a mushroom from all of those "light
taps."
I should have retained my initial skepticism regarding the fit of painted
tubes, which after painting with etch primer are larger than 16.5mm, but no,
I foolishly believed that the factory had actually tried this procedure.
Well folks, the paint makes the pin almost impossible to fit.
Fearing complaints from my neighbors about so much hammering on a peaceful
Sunday afternoon I finally quit pounding with the intention of resuming
mid-day today when most of my neighbors will be away at work. As of
yesterday afternoon one pin was snug against the bolt attaching the frame to
the fuselage and the other was still barely halfway home.
Now, if I could find one of those English hammers at Home Depot..
Best regards,
Rob Housman
Irvine, CA
Europa XS Tri-Gear
A070
Airframe complete
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