Hi Mike, this sounds totally normal I think. When you set up the rubber block
assembly to the quoted distance (the later xs manual now states 79mm between the
faces of the retraction plates - this is the equivalent of the earlier method
of measuring but easier to measure) there's no weight of the aircraft on the
assembly of course so the block is fully extended, constrained to it's maximum
extension of 79mm by the 2 nuts and bolts. When it's all assembled and the
aircraft is sitting on it's wheel the rubber is compressed (the reaction plates
come closer together) and this movement is catered for by the bolts sliding
up/ down through the holes in the upper and lower reaction plates. As soon as
the weight comes off the wheel then the block will extend to it's maximum amount
again as limited by the bolts. When I bought my Europa (didn't build it)
the first time I looked up inside the wheel well and saw these two bolts loose
and apparently "nearly undone" I thought the whole assembly was falling apart
until I realized how the system worked.
On my plane I replaced the rubber block this winter as age was taking it's toll
and the plane was sitting a bit low. Once dismantled I compared the old and
new blocks (uncompressed) side by side and the old one was at least 1 cm
shallower
than the new one due to years of compression and loss of elasticity I guess.
My plane now sits that much higher on it's wheel and so the distance between
my nut/ bolt heads and the plates is correspondingly less.
Cheers, Jon
--------
G-TERN
Classic Mono
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