Aug 23, 2020     Pack wheel bearings with grease - (0.6 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

Used my Anson Engineering jack to lift each main wheel and packed the tapered roller bearings with general purpose wheel bearing grease.

  Aug 22, 2020     Prep Wheels - (3.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Used my new Anson Engineering jack to lift TOB axles to remove wheels. Cut 3-4 threads from the wheel bolts. Ground the cut ends flat and beveled on a grinder. Polished with Scotchbrite wheel. Wire brushed corrosion from bolt heads and threads. Primed bolts with self-etching primer. Removed tubes and reinstalled with talc powder to ensure a non-binding fit. Filled inner wheel surfaces that may provide abrasion points over time. Reassembled and installed ready for greasing the bearings.

  Jul 25, 2020     Flyboys tailwheel arm fitting - (2.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Drilled a 1/4 in hole in the Flyboy's (https://www.flyboyaccessories.com/product-p/1132.htm) steel tailwheel linkage to attach a Peter Anson Engineering tailwheel steering strut (http://www.ansoneng.com/sample-page/products-summary/6-pneumatic-tailwheel-to-suit-sonex/). The hole was located 2 in (std Sonex tailwheel pivot arm) from the pivot centerline. Attached and secured the Anson fittings. Full deflection of the rudder did not result in the tailwheel and castering.
A second 1/4 in hole inboard provided just enough tailwheel deflection to unlock the tailwheel. Left turning unlocks the tailwheel more readily than a full right turn.

  Jun 20, 2020     Tailwheel post rework - (3.8 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

On initial fitting I had drilled the taper pin hole twice. The initial hole took the taper pin off of square with the tail spring socket. Welded closed the small end of a hole through the Flyboys Sonex tailwheel. Re-drilled small end by centering a 3/8" Cobalt bit in large end clamped in a drill press vise. Used a #1 S&J taper reamer to open the hole. Boelube helps with drilling and reaming. Used reamer to take a little material from the tail spring to fit taper pin. Cleaned up surface of rust, painted with a self-etching primer and finished with rattle can red enamel.

  Jun 10, 2019     Check Wheel Track - (0.75 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

Paul Thonnard, whom I had met at the Sonex Flight firewall-forward seminar in Lee's Crossing, MO, spent the evening in Charleston. He visited the hangar where we moved the fuselage onto the runway, and added two quarts of oil. Per the AeroVee instruction, set the dipstick low-level mark with the edge of a triangular file.

  Aug 08, 2016     Initial Purchase - (0.5 hour) Category: Landing Gear

Initial purchase of AeroBrakes and 6 inch tailwheel.