4/5/2008
I almost met my goal today. Actually, I could've met it and put the airplane down on it's gear, but I didn't want to bug my dad to come over this evening by the time I finished. I took a lot of pictures today...long log entry...
This morning, both of my parents came over to help me lift the fuselage up on the saw horses. I put two of them under the spar with a 2x6 and a 1x2 on top of the saw horses to get the engine mount high enough to get the gear legs in. To keep the fuselage level (pretty close anyway), we moved the table stand to the back of the airplane, and put a saw horse on top of that to elevate the tail.
I took this one just to show the firewall with some real outside light reflecting on it.
The gear legs actually went in very easily. I used some axel grease to coat the exposed areas, and that made it really easy to slide in to the gear tubes. I did make a mistake right off the bat though. The aft hole in the gear tubes is not drilled full size to 5/16" from Van's. I made a note of this to drill it prior to putting the gear in...but I totally forgot. I should know better that when a bolt becomes REALLY hard to put in, SOMETHING IS WRONG!!! I ruined the threads on one of only two 5-21A bolts that come with the kit (and two are needed for the gear). I took the entire engine mount with the gear leg jammed in place with the stuck bolt off the fuselage to beat the crap out of the bolt to get it out. Anyway, a quick trip to my office for another -21A bolt, and I was back in business. Yep, it's nice to work at an FBO with a stocked parts room! When Wiley and I got home, I drilled the holes to full size, slid the gear legs back in, and the bolt went right in. Surprise, surprise!
Wiley was pretty excited about this...can't you tell!?
He really is a very happy dog...he just doesn't smile for the camera very much.
Anyway, here's a cool view of the gear from behind...the fuselage is quite high on those saw horses!
Next was getting the brake flange mount and all the stuff that mounts to it ready to install. I screwed around with this stuff for way too long, and after figuring out how I THOUGHT the stuff was installed, I jumped right in. Oh, first, the brakes from Cleveland come with two left sides so the fittings need to be swapped to make a right one-
-and I made the little U-408 spacers. So like I was saying, I thought I had all this stuff figured out, so I installed it all...both sides, including the inboard wheel pant mounts. I realized I had done something wrong when the brake calipers didn't fit like they are supposed to. Off to the internet...I found my problem quickly when a picture showed me that I had installed the brake flange backward...on both sides. EVERY single part had to come off to flip the brake flange over.
Here they are installed in the proper fashion.
Next I put a thin layer of grease on the axle itself, and put the wheels/tires on.
Then the axle nuts were put in place, and they are used to mark the location of the cotter pin that keeps it from going anywhere. The nut is predrilled on all six sides with 1/8" holes so you can punch the location to drill the holes for the cotter pins in the axel threads. Yes, there are three more without arrows pointing to them... ;o)-
I center punched the holes in the horizontal locations, and drilled them out to 1/8". Drilling threads is really no fun, but it's not critical as the threads are easily cleaned up with a jewelers file. I oversized the holes slightly to make it easier to get the cotter pins in.
The arrow is pointing to the hole. A jewelers file has come in handy SO many times on the build. If you don't have them by now...GET SOME!!
The cotter pin on the left side gave me some trouble, but with some, actually a lot of work, I got it in place. The right side slide right in.
The main gear is on!!!
Next it was time to install the tailwheel spring, the Bell fork, and the Rocket sealed bearing tail wheel.
The difference between the stock fork and the Bell fork is readily apparent in this picture.
It's sleek, taller, and MILES better looking.
The spring is not yet painted...I'll paint it sometime. It's easy to install. Slide it in, install the AN4 bolt, torque it down!
I remember opening up the hole in this skin for the nut on the tailspring, and thinking at the time that it was going to be a LONG time before I installed it. Freakin' time flies!!
The Bell fork and Rocket tail wheel are easy installs as well. I do have "hub caps" for the wheel that I'll install later. The sealed bearing wheel is sweet!!
I'm going to use the deluxe steering springs from Van's called the Lynx springs. I had them shipped with the finish kit, but I can't hook them up until the rudder is put on, and the rudder cables are hooked up.
The gear is done!
Here I merged two pics to get a panoramic shot...
Tomorrow, it will be rolling on it's gear!
7.5 hours