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Here are all my landing gear parts. I am using AeroTrainer 500X5 tires. The Lamb tires are no longer available. Jeremy, recommended the larger 500X5 tires and says they fit in the wheel pants just fine. 8/27/00 |
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I built this cart to be able to move the fuselage around and until I can get it on its gear. 8/27/00 |
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When you drill the axles you have to establish the proper toe-in. I thought it would be easier to drill before the gear legs and motor mount were on the fuselage. The first step was to clamp the axles to the bench. That would keep them perpendicular to the center line. Next I lowered the engine mount 30° to simulate the slanted firewall. This would keep the axles perpendicular to the level line of the fuselage. 8/27/00 |
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The next step was to shim the inside part of the axle up .058" to establish the 0.7° toe-in. The plans call for a 3/4" X .058" tube to be slipped over the axle but I just used a 3/4" X .060" plate slipped under the axle. Now it is ready to drill. 8/27/00 |
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Here you can see the tail wheel and tail spring. The tail spring like the main landing gear legs are titanium. The Titanium is tough stuff to drill. I found the best way to drill it is to start with several sharp new, split point, drill bits. The legs cost $150 a pieces so don't skimp on $2 drill bits. Use a good cutting oil and take it slow. The titanium seems to harden when you heat it up so you should only drill 1/8" at a time. Then let the bit and leg cool before you drill any further. If the cutting oil starts to smoke then the bit is to hot. Stop and let it cool until it is cool to the touch. If, as you drill, you stop seeing a nice curly chip, then the drill has gone dull. Stop and change to a new bit. 8/27/00 |
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This is how I finished the axle spacers. I first cut the tube to length with a hacksaw. I then remove the sanding sleeve from my 3/4" sanding drum and installed the axle spacers. Then on my drill press, I used a file to even out the end and finally I ran the spacer down onto emery cloth to smooth it out. There are two sets of spacers you have to cut. The 3/4" long spacer is used when you set the axle toe-in. The 1 5/16" long axle spacer is used between the brake and the wheel. 9/16/00 |
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Here is the tire mounted on the wheel. I deburred the edges of the wheel so that it would not chaff the tube. I used talc powder on the tube to keep it from sticking to the tire (my workshop now smells like I have been changing diapers). I also made sure that the red dot on the tire was lined up with the tube stem. The red dot is the lightest part of the tire. 9/16/00 |
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Here are the brake cable guides. They come flat like the one on the right. You have to bend them to fit the gear leg. 9/16/00 |
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Here is how I bent mine to fit. I clamped the guide and a titanium gear leg into my vice and pounded away with my plastic mallet. In the flat state the two parts are the same but when you bend them the left and right are mirror images. 9/16/00 |
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Perfect fit. 9/16/00 |
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You might notice that my brake backing plate is flush with the drake drum. I have come to realize that because of the way the wheel pants are mounted that the plate should be a little farther out from the drum. I cut my original 1 5/16 " spacers down to 1 1/16" because the plate was sticking to far out from the drum. I will make new spacers that are 1 3/16". 9/16/00 |
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I will have the fuselage on its own gear soon. 9/16/00 |
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Here I have attached the brake cable. 12/15/00 |
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Here I am fitting the wheel pants. Note that I drew the level line on the wheel pant to help me level it up as I attached it to the brake housing. I took off the brake arm to make things easier. 12/15/00 |
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Not bad! I had one problem though. The wheel pants are 5 1/2" wide and the axles are 6" wide. This is not a problem because the pants flex to fit around the axle. However, I notices that the brake side of the tire was rubbing slightly on the side of the wheel pant. And the non-brake side of the tire cleared the wheel pant by 3/4". 12/15/00 |
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To solve this rubbing I cut the axle down to 5 1/2" . The wheel pants then did not have to flex over the wider axle and I got a more even space between the tire and the wheel pant. 12/15/00 |
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My fuselage is now resting on it own gear. It is getting pretty tight in my workshop. 12/15/00 |
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Here is my fairing for the gear leg. I had to trim it down some from the plans to get it to fit right. I still need to figure out how to attach it to the fuselage. Some have been having problems with just drilling a hole for the hinge pin. 9/16/01 |
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I was having trouble with the Azusa cable stops on the brake levers. I could not get them to hole the cable tight. I tried inserting the screw from both sided but the cable would still slip. At the suggestion of my Tech Advisor I switched to using a NicoPress sleeve and thimble and it holds tight now. I also put a paint mark on the doubled over cable so I can tell if things ever slip. 9/16/01 |
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To compensate for cable stretch I added to barrel adjusters at the anchor point. 9/16/01 |
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The plans call for installing the hinge pin that secures the trailing edge of the gear fairing through the bottom of the fuselage which is a PITA. I got this idea from another Sonex builder. Cut a slot in the middle of the fairing, remove a couple of the hinge "ears" and then insert two hinge pins from the middle. Much better idea, thanks John Schaefer. 7/26/02 |
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After some taxi tests I found that the stock brakes were just not up to the job. I could not do a run up much past 1400 rpm. Once those brakes heated up I could not slow down to save my life, which nearly happened on one high speed taxi test. I decide to make a few mods in hopes of getting better stopping power. I found a jack placed on one of the bolt heads just behind the engine mount works quite good. Just don't shake things around too much. 7/26/02 |
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Mod number 1 was to round over the edges of the brake cam so it would ride over the brake shoes more easily. The sharp edges of the stock cam were digging a grove into the brake shoes and were preventing the cam from engaging fully. 7/26/02 |
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Mod number 2 was to move the brake arms back one more notch. In this position it looks like you would get very little leverage but I found that when the arm engages the brake it is at almost a perfect 90° angle. Don't let the curve of the arm fool you. These two mods helped the brakes quite a bit and will now hold a 2000 rpm run up. They sill do fade some what when they get hot but I am finding that the Sonex does not need brakes that much. 7/26/02 |
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During taxi tests I also found that I had miss aligned my tail wheel so that I would have to hold left rudder to taxi straight. On takeoff I would have to transition from holding left rudder while the tail was on the ground to right rudder when it came up. I replaced the stock design with an adjustable push rod. Wicks part #s CW-4S, AN490HT6P, AN316-4 & R3/8x035-41. 7/26/02 |
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Here is a product my Tech Counselor showed me. Torque Seal Wicks part# F900. Once you have torqued a nut, squeeze a little of this across the bolt and nut. If the nut ever comes loose you will be able to see the seal is out of alignment. No need to torque, retorque and reretorque a nut. Makes preflights and annuals a breeze. 7/26/02 |
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