Mar 03, 2024     Gear leg fairing attachment and fit-check - (2.7 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

1. Sanded the gel coat off both gear leg fairings.
2. Attached both fairings to the fuselage to check their fit and assess what, if anything, I want to improve on them.
3. I noticed that the R fairing doesn't sit quite as flush to the fuselage side as the left one, but I think I'll be able to cure that with a strip of rubber U-channel grommet material around the edges after the plane is painted.

Overall, I think both fairings are acceptable. The "wing curve" on each fairing is still an unknown. I will have to work fast on the day we put the wings in place for painting -- marking the fairings for trimming, then removing them and getting them to the proper shape. This will probably be at least a week or two from now.

  Mar 01, 2024     Gear leg fairing attachments - (2.05 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

1. Positioned the two upper gear-leg fairings and taped them in place.
2. Located and drilled two access holes through each fairing and the fuselage underneath. The forward ones go through the bottom skin and into the cavity under the floor at that location. The aft ones go through the gear leg attachment access plates.
3. Opened up the forward holes with a step-drill, the used a micro file to file small notches for the keyed rivnuts.
4. Installed a #8 keyed rivnut at each of these locations. (I have now learned that, although I have two rivnut tools and both of them work, both of them are terrible and I need to get a new one.)
5. Removed the access plates, drilled out the holes to #8, and installed nutplates.
6. Sanded, cleaned, and primed the inside surfaces of the access plates.

  Nov 18, 2023     Gear brake line installation - (0.7 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

With the help of my friend Jim, I installed four flare fittings, then installed the custom brake lines that connect the bottom of the landing gear legs to the brakes.

  Aug 24, 2022     Tailwheel axle conversion to tow bar bolt; Tailwheel chains - (1.8 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

1. Removed the tailwheel. Removed the stock tailwheel axle.
2. Cleaned and greased the tailwheel.
3. Replaced the axle with a Flyboys Accessories tow bar bolt. Added a washer on each side to allow the cotter pin to be inserted. Finger-tightened and safetied the nut.
4. Prepped the tailwheel chain clevises by spreading them slightly, so they fit the steering arm. Prepped the attachment hardware. I am using a slightly heavier-duty sash chain and connector clips than stock. I am also attaching the chains in a way that will prevent the holes from becoming oblong with use.

  Sep 05, 2009     Attach landing gear (final) - (2.6 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

My friend Eric once again generously volunteered a couple of hours to help me attach the gear legs for the final time.

I had all the hardware, grease and tools ready, and we got the job done pretty quickly and painlessly. My sexy long-legged girl is now standing tall.

  Sep 04, 2009     Landing gear bolt swap - (2.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Today, with the help of my friend Eric, I removed the too-short outboard bolts and got ready to install the new, longer ones (see previous Landing Gear entries.) To do this, I had to completely remove the gear legs, since the fit of the outboard bolts was so tight through the saddles. The bolts couldn't be tapped out without putting undue strain on the inboard attach points.

Since the gear had to come completely off, this gave me a final opportunity to do something with the bare steel gear saddles. I decided to clean them up and prep/prime the non-contact surfaces. I used a SEM high-build primer, and now they look really nice.

  Aug 24, 2009     Gear bolt research - (.6 hour) Category: Landing Gear

I've determined that the two outboard attach bolts on each gear leg are just a bit too short, since I'm using the stronger (but taller) NAS1804-6 nuts instead of the shorter, stock nuts. The result is that I don't quite have 1-1/2 threads of the bolt showing. The nuts are not Nyloc-type nuts, so they don't necessarily require 1-1/2 threads showing, but I don't want any concern from a DAR or FAA inspector about the installation. I'll have to order longer bolts. I'm just not sure which ones yet.

UPDATE: I did some research and discovered the NAS6606-36 bolt, which has an identical grip length to the NAS6206-36 bolt that's supplied by Grove, but its thread length (and overall length) is about 1/8" longer. Should be perfect.

  Aug 23, 2009     Gear bolts - (1.0 hour) Category: Landing Gear

My friend Jim helped me torque down the final two bolts on each side of gear leg wear plates. Now I'll replace the aforementioned four outboard bolts, and the gear attachment will be done.

  Aug 15, 2009     Attach landing gear - (3.0 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

With the kind assistance of my friend Bill, I got the landing gear attached. Other than the sheer exertion of working in 90-degree temperatures, the actual job was pretty easy and simple. There are actually two small bolts left to torque on each side. I'll do those shortly, and she'll be ready to roll, so to speak.

I'm almost ready to climb in and make airplane noises.

  Aug 14, 2009     Attach landing gear - (3.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

After prepping and priming the gear attach wells and hardware, I maneuvered each leg into position, and bolted them to the fuselage, right side first. Doing this job by yourself requires a bit of finagling, but I proved it can certainly can be done this way. Attaching the gear seems to be fairly straightforward, and it's certainly about the most rewarding thing I've done on the airplane in a while.

I hand-tightened all the nuts, and I'll final-torque them tomorrow.

  Aug 10, 2009     Attach landing gear - (3.6 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

This entry covers work performed over the past couple of weeks. Between Oshkosh and my job, this is the first time in a while that I've had a chance to come up for air and do some work on the airplane.

I've begun attaching the gear legs. First, I hoisted the forward fuselage high into the air with an engine hoist. (I used a strap tied around the upper part of the engine mount, and it worked great.) Next, I placed some concrete blocks and 2x4s under the wooden spar legs to get the proper height. After temporarily attaching the right gear leg, I realized that I'd have to slightly enlarge the holes in the cabin floor where the brake line fittings will protrude, so I removed the legs in order to accomplish that. More later.

  Jun 29, 2009     Gear brake line fittings - (.3 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

A couple of days ago, I received my replacement 90-degree, steel AN822-4 fittings for the top inboard ends of the gear legs, where the internal brake lines come out. (I'm using steel fittings here because of the relative weakness of aluminum fittings in this high-vibration, high-wear area.) I installed the fittings with Loctite 567 high-temp thread sealant.

  Jun 11, 2009     Gear leg priming and hardware assembly - (2.25 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Today I test-fit the wheel/brake hardware onto the right gear leg, similar to the left leg.

Then I removed the brakes and wheels, and prepped and primed the gear legs. After they dried, I reinstalled everything. The gear legs are just about ready to bolt onto the fuselage. I still have to install some AN fittings on the brake housings, and torque and safety a couple of bolts, and they'll be ready to go.

  Jun 07, 2009     Left wheel; Left gear leg - (2.3 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Today I finished mounting the second tire and packing the second set of wheel bearings. I also prepped both wheel pant attach brackets by finishing the edges.

Then I bolted on the left wheel/tire and brake assembly to the left gear leg in order to test-fit everything. Pretty exciting!

  Jun 05, 2009     Tires and tubes - (2.0 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Prepared both wheels for mounting the tires by first removing the bearings, wiping off as much of the light preservative grease as I could, then repacking them with new Aeroshell 22 bearing grease. I inspected the wheel halves and bearings, then reassembled everything.

Then I mounted one of the tubes/tires. I'll do the other one tomorrow. (BTW, I used a pair of less expensive Condor tires instead of the Goodyear Flight Custom III tires I'll mount after the airplane is flying. The Condor tires will get me though the rest of the building process -- and maybe even Phase I of flight testing. Not sure yet.) Thanks to Jim for selling me his tires.

  Oct 21, 2008     Tailwheel attachment - (0.5 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

Today was a nice minor milestone. I assembled the Bell tailwheel and the stock Van's tailwheel fork, and mounted them on the airplane! Just for fun, I lowered the tail of the plane to the floor and let it sit on its wheel for a while.

  Jul 01, 2008     Landing gear installation - (2.3 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

I finished trimming the skin around the outboard gear attach blocks, re-installed a rivet on the right side next to the notch, removed the landing gear with the help of a friend, cleaned and vacuumed out all the drill chips, reattached the fuselage to the rotisserie, and removed the wooden cradle from underneath it.

I also spent some time planning the routing of the brake lines and fuel vent lines. I organized and stored the landing gear hardware, pulling out the nyloc nuts I used to fit the gear and replacing it with the final ones I'll use when I install it for the final time. The attach blocks will be primed and painted later, too.

  Jun 30, 2008     Landing gear installation - (5.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

I finished up the installation of the landing gear by ensuring everything was still aligned correctly, then tightening the large, 7/16" bolts/nuts. Next, I drilled the holes for the four outboard bolts, dropping temporary bolts into each one as I went. My friends Bill and Jim helped immensely with this by acting as "human clamps." Next, I drilled the four inboard holes, again installing bolts as I went.

Next, I located and drilled the four holes in the skin that would allow me to drill the ends of the outboard wear-plates. (Vans calls for 1/4" holes here -- enough to allow only a drill bit. I opened them up to 3/4" to allow me to insert a 7/16" deep well socket so I can torque the nuts properly later. This area will be covered by a fairing, so the larger holes are no problem. I drilled the four holes in the ends of the outboard wear plates.

Finally, I crammed myself up under the fuselage and drilled the four 1/4" bolt holes at the ends of the inboard wear plates. These must be drilled from the inside of the fuselage, and since I made the choice to mount the gear while the fuselage was resting upside down on a low cradle, I have no one but myself to blame for how strenuous it was. I barely fit in there, and holding the heavy drill over my head while applying enough force to drill hard steel -- well, let's just say I'm glad that job is over.

  Jun 29, 2008     Landing gear installation - (4.9 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

I finished constructing a sturdy wooden cradle for the forward fuselage (see photo 1). With the help of a friend, I removed the fuselage from the rotisserie and placed into the cradle. The fuselage is now very stable and level, and the tail is still supported by the aft rotisserie fixture. This will make it easy to reattach the forward rotisserie when the time comes to flip everything over again.

I re-marked the centerline on the floor and reattached the gear plumb-bobs, then adjusted the left leg as required to get it parallel to the longitudinal axis. This required some more filing of the aft and inboard edges of the skin opening -- enough that I had to remove a skin rivet. The rivet hole now serves as a corner of the notch (see photo 3).

According the the drawings, the edges of the outboard attach block and the wear block have to be 3/16" inboard of the longeron vertex. I inserted a couple of drill bits through the two blocks (see photo 2) and tapped them inboard until they were the correct distance from the edge (see photos 2 & 3).

Tomorrow I'll tighten the large, 7/16" bolt/nut and drill the rest of the attach holes.

  Jun 28, 2008     Landing gear installation - (5.5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Today was another nice milestone in the construction of the airplane -- I began mounting the landing gear legs.

First, I drilled the second inboard wear plate (the one I couldn't drill last night), and this time I used the proper tool. Here's a big tip -- when you're drilling 4130 steel, do NOT compromise with either the drill motor or the drill bit. A 7/16" Cobalt bit costs about $8.00, and it's worth every penny. I also upgraded to a 1/2" Bosch heavy-duty electric drill. The combination of slow speed, high torque, and a sharp, new bit made all the difference. The steel wear plate was downright EASY to drill. Steel chips flew everywhere.

Next, I leveled the fuselage, mounted the gear legs, and attached each of them temporarily with a single 7/16" bolt. I then began aligning the legs by clamping a pair of 6' steel angles to the outboard flat surface of the bottom of the gear legs. I leveled them and dropped plumb bobs from each end, and dropped two more from the forward and aft ends of the fuselage centerline. I played with the measurements for a couple of hours in an effort to get everything perfectly aligned, but I realized that mounting the gear while the fuselage is on the rotisserie is not ideal. There's a slight amount of slack and wobble that I can't eliminate. I began building a custom sawhorse to go underneath the forward fuselage. It's made from the remnants of my tail jig. (Remember those?)

  Jun 27, 2008     Landing gear installation - (2.0 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Filed notches in the fuselage skin on both sides of the landing gear attach points in order to fit the larger Grove landing gear attach-blocks.

Drilled the attach holes though the wear blocks on one side. I'll do the other one after I buy a new 7/16" cobalt drill bit. The one I have is not the best quality, and it dulled quickly while drilling through the 4130 steel.

  Jun 26, 2008     Landing gear installation prep - (.5 hour) Category: Landing Gear

I began the installation of the landing gear by studying the plans, assembly manual, and various forum postings on the VAF website. There are several differences between the stock Vans gear and the Grove gear, and I wanted to understand everything before cutting metal.

The first order of business was to flip the fuselage upside down and clamp the rotisserie so the plane was level in both axes. I laid out the Grove gear attach fittings and marked the skin where it will need to be trimmed. (The Grove gear blocks are a bit taller than the stock ones.)

The installation of the Grove gear will require at least four different sizes of cobalt drill bits. I'll buy those in the next day or two.

  Jan 17, 2007     Grove landing gear - (.4 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

I received two packages today. One was a small but very heavy cardboard box, and the other was a large, heavy, boomerang-shaped item wrapped in layer upon layer of corrugated cardboard and tape. My long-awaited Grove Aircraft aerodynamic gear legs had arrived. I spent a half-hour unwrapping and inspecting the legs and all the components and hardware. The finish work on the legs is fantastic, and the hardware is well-marked and organized. I like the Grove company already!