The Murphy Builders Site

Yesterday, I took a good look at the main gear attach in the area where
another builder had the horrible experience of a main gear failure. I
still
can't believe the wimpy little aluminum "clamp" that captures the main
gear
just before it exits the fuselage. But what concerns me is that when I
looked down at that area I could see light between the "clamp" and the
gear
leg. The "clamp" was not fully seated against the fitting above. There
was
as much as about 1/32 inch. Not much, but there is a gap. I'm thinking
that the powder coat is the problem. But now I have to be concerned about
getting the gear leg to the exact dimension that allows the clamp to fully
seat and still have good contact with the gear leg. A friend who was with
me (and has built and worked on many airplanes) wasn't sure that the clamp
should fully seat. With it close, but not fully seated, that assures good
contact with the gear leg. Watcha think?

Mike
044SR




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Yesterday, I took a good look at the main gear attach in the area
where another builder had the horrible experience of a main gear
failure. I still can't believe the wimpy little aluminum "clamp" that
captures the main gear just before it exits the fuselage. But what
concerns me is that when I looked down at that area I could see light
between the "clamp" and the gear leg. The "clamp" was not fully
seated against the fitting above. There was as much as about 1/32
inch. Not much, but there is a gap. I'm thinking that the powder
coat is the problem. But now I have to be concerned about getting the
gear leg to the exact dimension that allows the clamp to fully seat
and still have good contact with the gear leg. A friend who was with
me (and has built and worked on many airplanes) wasn't sure that the
clamp should fully seat. With it close, but not fully seated, that
assures good contact with the gear leg. Watcha think?

Mike
044SR




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Al,

How do you check the bolts before preflight? Surely you're not taking off
the ~ 15 screws that hold the inspection plate off before each flight--and
doing so on each side!

Curious,

Ted

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com] On Behalf Of Al
Paxhia
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 10:13 PM
To: rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] SR Main Gear Attach

Mike,
I have put shims under the bracket so that the bracket is not under a
bending load. With shims I was able to get a good fit for both the
bracket
and the gear leg. I did grind some of the power coating off, to get a good
fit in the bracket corners. I still worry about the bolts and check these
bolts on preflight. I use a 3/8" propeller bolt rated at 180ksi in the
forward hole, the bolts came from Saber Mfg for about $10 each with lock
nuts.
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Kimball" <mkimball@gci.net>
To: "Rebel Builder's List" <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 8:46 PM
Subject: [rebel-builders] SR Main Gear Attach

Yesterday, I took a good look at the main gear attach in the area
where another builder had the horrible experience of a main gear
failure. I still can't believe the wimpy little aluminum "clamp" that
captures the main gear just before it exits the fuselage. But what
concerns me is that when I looked down at that area I could see light
between the "clamp" and the gear leg. The "clamp" was not fully
seated against the fitting above. There was as much as about 1/32
inch. Not much, but there is a gap. I'm thinking that the powder
coat is the problem. But now I have to be concerned about getting the
gear leg to the exact dimension that allows the clamp to fully seat
and still have good contact with the gear leg. A friend who was with
me (and has built and worked on many airplanes) wasn't sure that the
clamp should fully seat. With it close, but not fully seated, that
assures good contact with the gear leg. Watcha think?

Mike
044SR




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