Chapter 9 - Step 5

This step involves mounting the axles, brakes, and brake lines.

February 15, 2003. When it came time to carve the end of the strut I found trying to hold the brake up to the strut and accurately mark the strut wasn't going to work too well. I decided to make a template that would match the shape of the brake caliper.

February 15, 2003. The template includes a hole that matches the axle. You can also see lines on the template that correspond to the bolts holes on the brake. The brake can be aligned in 45° increments relative to the axle.

The Matco instructions say the best location for the brake is on the aft side of the strut with the drain valve close to vertical. I compromised a bit because to get the drain vertical would require too much of the strut to be carved away. I rotated back 45° and chose that position.

February 15, 2003. I rough cut the strut with a hacksaw then used the Dremel with a sanding drum to grind it down to shape. Here is the strut with the brake in place. I had goggles, ear plugs, and the respirator on for this job because it was snowing fiberglass powder in my workshop - what a mess.

The square drawn on the inside of the strut is where the aluminum backing plate will go. Obviously some of the plate will get cut off to match the cutout.

February 15, 2003. A close-up of the complete strut end with all my marking for the axle placement. The diagonal lines are where the bolts with align.

July 2, 2003. Here is the creation of the axle base. From interior to exterior this consists of the aluminum backing plate, flox, 3 BID, strut, 3 BID, and flox. The clamps are adjusted so the exterior board is creating a flat base for the axle with the proper toe-in. I was able to place a laser pointer on the board and adjust the clamps until the little red laser dot hit the mark on the far wall about 15 feet away. The two boards are covered with box (clear) tape so they don't become a permanent part of the plane.

July 3, 2003. Here is the outside of the strut after removing the clamps and boards. You can just make out the guide lines to be used for axle placement. Before I added all the flox I traced over my pencil lines with a Sharpie marker. Good thing too, because I was just able to see the thicker, darker marks.

July 3, 2003. Here is the completed pad after trimming the excess flox and BID. I re-traced over the guide lines so it will be easier to place the axle and drill the holes.

July 3, 2003. Next I clamped the axle in place using three clamps leaving the fourth hole clear for drilling. I used the 12", 1/4" drill bit and used the axle hole as a guide to drill the first hole. Once through I put a bolt in place and then removed the opposite clamp. I then drilled that hole and put a bolt in place. I did this two more times until all four holes were drilled and bolted. I then removed all the bolts and placed the brake in place and remounted the axle. I need to remove just a little bit of the strut to clear the caliper so there is no chance of interference.

July 3, 2003. Here is the aft, interior view of the brake. You can see there is little clearance between the strut and caliper - too little. The AN4-24 bolts called out in the plans appear to be too long. I have about 1/8" to 3/16" shaft sticking out. I know I need to allow for wheel pants but this is too much.

July 3, 2003. Here is the wheel installed on the axle and bolted to the brake.

September 23, 2003. Here is the landing gear bulkhead cover. Nothing difficult about this. The plans are vague about the two big holes - in both size and position. I just made ones that seemed right.

September 23, 2003. The main point here is to trace the size of the triangle piece from your bulkheads. Don't rely on plans dimensions at all. Get a simple, custom fit. Part of the top of the triangle needs to be cut away for the spar. I'll do that when the spar gets installed.

May 14, 2005. I'm finally getting around to installing the brake lines in the plane. I'm using the Matco brake fluid reservoirs, Matco laydown master cylinders, the Matco parking brake, and, of course, the Matco brakes. I will be using 1/4" tubing from the reservoirs to the cylinders, 1/4" tubing from the cylinders to the parking brake, and 3/16" from the parking brake to the brakes.

I've decided that I didn't want to permantly mount the brake lines to the plane just incase I need to replace any of the tubing. To that end I've decided to mount 2" lengths of bigger tubing along the fuselage side. I will then slide the "real" brake lines through these mounting tubes. I'm using 5/16" ID tubing for the 1/4" brake lines and 1/4" ID tubing for the 3/16" brake lines. In this picture you can see some of the mounting tubes after they were attached with 5-minute epoxy. Next they will be floxed and taped wih 1-ply BID.

May 14, 2005. More of the mounting tubes between F-22 and the IP.

May 14, 2005. More mounting tubes below the electrical conduit in front of the front seat.

May 14, 2005. The last of the mounting tubes in the aft area below the electrical conduit.

May 15, 2005. Here are the 1/4" brake lines running from the reservoirs to the cylinders.

May 21, 2005. This "top" view shows the brakes lines from the cylinders (though not connected yet) over to the left fuselage side. The line from the right side (left in the picture) goes through the NG-30s.

May 21, 2005. The two brake lines running along the fuselage side forward of F-22.

May 21, 2005. The brake lines running from the nose to the parking brake (obviously not installed yet).

May 21, 2005. The brake lines running between the front seat and the IP.

May 21, 2005. The parking brake mount. This is simply a 1/4" piece of plywood with 2 AN-3 bolts sticking out. The back of the plywood was counterbored so the heads of the bolts were flush with the plywood. The whole thing was floxed into place.

Copyright © 2003 Rick Maddy, All Rights Reserved