More excitement today, moving on to the main gear (even though I didn’t finish the nose gear yet) and I get to use a new tool. Enter stage left: a rotary grinder/rotary angle.
But first I identified the front of the main gear and marked it.
There was already a centre line marked on the gear but I took several measurements to check that it was correct. With that established, next up was to mark the locations of the studs on the gear strut fittings. The main gear fits inside the fitting but you have to notch out some metal on the gear to go around them.
To get this right I adapted the technique from the video. I took some l-angle and clamped it to the studs.
I marked the position of the studs and then transferred these to the main gear legs. With the positions marked, I scratched up the surface with a file and then used the rotary angle to slowly grind out a notch.
After some lunch, Teri joined me at the hangar to help trial fit the gear legs inside the fitting. We would try and slip it inside the studs and each time I’d go back to the bench and grind out a little more metal. After several attempts we finally had it where it would fit inside just nicely.
There are some rubber gear supports that fit above and below the main gear legs and you have to cut notches in each of these so that they clear the studs. I marked one and then discovered I had nothing that would cut it. I looked and looked and never found anything in the hangar, I will return with a Stanley knife (aka box cutter).
Underneath the main gear stack is a main gear support which comes as an undrilled piece of metal. I drew centre lines and marked the stud locations by holding the metal supports up to the gear fitting.
And drilled the holes out in steps to 1/2″ size.
Lastly I did a test fit on the studs. It is tight but will work.
The extra metal on each side of the support needs to be trimmed and you can see on that picture where I have marked the excess. Next up will be to trim those supports, notch the rubber supports and prep the wheels for assembly. At that point, we’ll be ready to see this baby on the ground.