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This step involves the making of the attachment tabs on the strut. This is followed by the actual installation of the strut in the fuselage.
August 6, 2000. The strut is leaned up against the end of the worktable so
the exact position of the attach tabs can be determined. Good use of levels,
plumb bobs, and squares are needed to get everthing correct. The board under
the strut was used to level the strut since the floor is crooked. The plywood
behind the strut was attached using some spacers so when the strut is leaned
against it, the trailing edges don't hit the end of the workbench.
Once all the measurements are made I will do them again to make sure I got it
right. I don't want to make the tabs and discover they are in the wrong place.
August 7, 2000. Here is part "A" of the strut box cut to shape and in position.
August 7, 2000. Here is the strut box with parts "B" and "C" glued in place
on part "A".
August 9, 2000. As I was making strut box parts "D" and "E" I discovered that
my strut was a bit too wide. The plans make it pretty clear that the box should
be 5.75" wide. Mine would need to be 5.875". I posted a message to the mailing
list and just about everyone said to sand the extra 1/8" off. A few people
were concerned with the fact that this would result in sanding through the
reinforcement layers. I was concerned as well but I figured the 45 layers of
glass added to each side of the strut for the tabs should take care of that.
I sanded a flat on the trailing edge a bit and took off the rest from the
leading edge.
August 9, 2000. Here I am test fitting the partially completed strut box. You
may notice that this strut setup is different then in the previous pictures.
I wasn't happy with the other layout so I moved to the front of my workbench
instead of the end. I added some reinforcements to the plywood to keep it
straighter than I had it earlier.
I ran into an interesting problem. I had (at least I thought I had) everything just right. The strut was level, the leading edge was 9.25" out, I had the strut centerline measured, and I had the 13" lines layed out. I then proceeded to measure the high point of the strut at the two 13" positions. I then measured up 0.75" and the extra 5". I then layed the level across the two 5" marks. Uh Oh! They are not level. One is 1/8" too high (or too low). I pondered this for a while and thought of several solutions. All were compromises. I decided to call Nat. Since the obvious goal is to get everything level we decided to just make one tab 1/8" longer. I thought of this earlier but drawing M-9 shows specifically that this dimension should be 0.7" min. to 0.75" max. Nat said it was OK to be 0.875" in my case.
As soon I we hung up I had a brainstorm and chose a different approach (sorry
Nat). I shimmed the "low" end of the strut 1/8" by placing two stirring sticks
under the strut end. This raised the low spot and the tabs would be just right.
None of my other dimensions or reference lines changed. All I have to do later
is either chop an 1/8" off the OTHER strut end or just mount that axle 1/8"
higher. No big deal (I think).
August 11, 2000. After way too many hours of trying to get the strut box built,
the strut sanded to size, and measuring the location of the tabs, I finally
got the strut box built and bondoed into place. This took much longer than
it should have.
August 11, 2000. The same completed strut box showing it on the whole strut.
August 11, 2000. After the bondo dried I flipped the strut over and placed
the whole contraption on the workbench. I had already drawn all the reference
lines on the bench top. Here I am using a straight edge to make sure the strut
ends are level. I placed two stirring sticks under one end to compensate for
the adjustment I made earlier. The strut leveled perfectly first shot.
The next test was dropping the plumb line from the leading edge. One strut
end was dead on. Unfortunately the other was 5/32" too far aft. I tried a shim
in that corner under the box but the whole box tilted, not just that end. I
decided to ignore it for now. I can adjust for it later with axle placement or
maybe it will magically go away while putting the strut in the fuselage. I
am annoyed this showed up because I measured everything thirty-seven times.
Who knows where I went wrong.
August 11, 2000. Here is a close-up of the strut in the box. The gray triangle
on the right edge is actually bondo on part "D" of the strut box. Since the
strut gets narrower toward the strut center, part "D" sticks out a bit here.
August 11, 2000. The last prep work was to cover the wood with tape. I also
taped plastic down on the workbench to catch drips. The brown tape is thin
enough that I can still see the tab layout lines I drew on the strut box.
August 12, 2000. Here are 25 layers of UNI for the one of the tabs.
August 12, 2000. Here is the tab with 25 layers of UNI and 20 layers of BID.
The strip of peel ply is covering the ends of the BID. You can see the glass
was a bit long. The BID could probably have been cut to 13" strips instead of
15" since it doesn't need to reach all the way across the strut like the UNI.
August 12, 2000. After doing the 45 layers of glass for both tabs I clamped a
couple of boards in place. They bowed a bit so I drilled a quick hole through
them and added the threaded rod with some washers and nuts to squeeze the bow
out of the boards.
August 19, 2000. After removing the clamped boards I made a drill jig from a
piece of 2x4. I needed a longer piece with a gap underneath since all my tabs
were so long. I used this jig to drill all four holes and everything lined up
just right.
August 19, 2000. Here is the other tab with the pilot hole drilled.
August 19, 2000. Here are both tabs after drilling the holes.
August 19, 2000. Here is one of the tabs after rounding and trimming. I used
a sabre saw to cut the round part and some of the straight. I then used a
hacksaw blade to trim the width of the tab near the strut.
August 19, 2000. Getting the tab width down to 3" wasn't going to happen. My
compromise was to bevel the edge the best I could with a Dremel and sandpaper.
I was real careful not to gouge the strut. Trimming both tabs made a huge
mess of fiberglass dust. I had my respirator and goggles on for this job.
August 19, 2000. Here is a shot of the trimmed and sanded tabs from underneath.
August 19, 2000. I didn't have time for the next layup so I jumped ahead and
made the four MG-1s and the four MG-2s. My drill press made quick work of all
the holes and the countersinking.
September 2, 2000. Here is the second tab layup with a board clamped in place.
September 7, 2000. After I finished shaping the tabs I drilled out the holes
and set the strut into position. After a bit of work I got the 1/4" drill bit
through the holes on one side. The rod through the other set of holes is a
touch off. It looks like I'll need to "move" a bulkhead hole about 1/8".
September 7, 2000. Here is the gear in position for the first time. The rods
are holding the strut in place via the 1/4" holes. I dropped plumb lines off
the leading edges of the strut. Both are too far forward. One is 7/16" off and
the other is 11/16". The strut is level and centered so I'm not sure how I
can get both leading edges even. Maybe I'll shoot for getting one 1/8" too far
forward and one 1/8" too far aft. I'll think I will adjust the holes in the
forward landing gear bulkhead since the tabs touch the angled part of the
bulkhead. Time will tell.
Update May 26, 2001. After about 8 months hiatus I finally got back to
this. I ended up doing what I thought so long ago. I elongated the holes
in the forward bulkhead so the resulting hole was higher. I then elongated
the holes in the aft bulkhead so the holes were a little lower. This
combination gave me the best compromise. One strut leading edge is a bit too
far aft and the other is a bit too far forward. The axle position will fix
this.
May 26, 2001. Once I had the strut aligned correctly (close enough anyway) it was time to get the MG-1s and MG-2s set. While the strut was in place in the
proper position I slipped the four MG-1s onto the 1/4" rods and then hot glued
them in place. I then pulled out the rods and removed the strut. I then put
the 1/4" rods back in place along with the MG-2s. I then hot glued the MG-2s
in place and removed the 1/4" rods. As seen in this picture I then used 1/4"
hardware store grade bolts to hold MG-1 and MG-2 together in preparation for
drilling the #10 holes. One problem I ran into was with the MG-2s on the
forward bulkhead. The angled part of the bulhead was in the way of MG-2. I had
to file down a little of MG-2 to get it to fit.
May 26, 2001. Here is the bulkhead after drilling the four #10 holes. I
didn't have a right angle drill so I went down to the local Home Depot and
rented one. $12 for four hours. All they had was the heavy duty Milawaukee one.
Heavy sucker. Anyway I put in my #10 bit and #$%@#^#$! It doesn't fit. Now
what? Remove bit, dig out hacksaw. Put shortened bit back in. Barely fits but it
will work. I drilled one hole and inserted a bolt and nut to hold everything
in position. I then drilled the other three holes. Repeat four times. I now
have 16 #10 holes. It appears my #10 bit was getting very dull. It took a while
to drill all the holes.
The plans call for S60 bolts. Wicks sends you S58 bolts with the chapter 9 kit.
Neither is long enough. Let's see: S58 bolts are 1" long. I have MG-1, 1/8",
MG-2, 1/4", bulkhead, 1/4" foam and 3/8" fiberglass, nut, 1/8"+. This all
totals 1 1/8+". Plus enough for threads to stick out past the nut. Let's call
it 1 1/4". This is a S62 minimum. Looks like I'll be ordering some more bolts.
June 1, 2001. This took a lot of energy to do. I was soaked and my arms were
tired. I must be out of shape. Those 16 little nuts take a lot of effort to
put on in a tight spot. Especially when the flox is beginning to set up on
you. Everything turned out fine of course but sheesh!
June 1, 2001. The landing gear studs fit perfect in the MKMG-4 bushings. I'm
quite pleased with how this has turned out. I'll find out real soon whether
the main strut ends up OK or not but so far so good.
June 16, 2001. Here is the landing strut tab with the MKMGA floxed in place
with some foam underneath. There is a 2 BID layer over the whole thing.
June 16, 2001. This shows the washer under two layers of BID on the outside
of the tab. At this point the strut attach tabs are complete.
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