Retractable Gear
Because the plane will fly over water, retractable gear is
a desirable feature.
The retractable gear on my plane is the same basic design
developed by Ken Ran. The latching mechanism has been replaced a steel pin
that locks the gear up or down
The aluminum castings have been replaced with welded 4130
steel assemblies. They are 1.5 in longer than the castings so the plane sits
higher.
Because of bending of the spring bar the gear bowed
outward. There was no easy way to correct this. Using a thicker
spring bar would have required a whole rebuild of the locking mechanism. I
made the decision to replace the retractable gear with a Dan Diehl fixed gear.
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Original rear wheel fairing. |
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Original front wheel flairing. |
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Side view of stub wing showing wheel. |
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Rear view of wheel fairing. |
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Damage to left stub wing trailing edge. |
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Bottom of stub wing removed for installation of gear. |
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Rats nest in right stub wing. |
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New wheel assembly in retracted position. |
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Side view of stub wing showing new wheel assembly. |
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Wheels in down and locked position. |
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Additional section of leaf spring added to reinforce original spring. |
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