It's been a long summer and quite awhile since I updated my build blog... I had a business trip in June, family vacation to California in early July, then a week in Oshkosh at the end of July.
Now that the fuselage has been painted, it's time to get some legs under her. It is bitter sweet to remove the convenience of the rotisserie, but real progress to finally have the gear legs mounted. Finally starting to look like an airplane!
Each of the main gear struts is comprised of a cylinder containing a high compression spring and a capped shaft. The spring must be compressed into the cylinder, locked in place with a snap ring, then the cylinder is filled with ATV fluid. This creates the hydraulic dampening system for the Bearhawk landing gear.
In my opinion, the most underrated component on the entire Bearhawk line is the ingenious landing gear system. This gear is not "springy" and creates a sense of sticking to the runway on landings.
Following the Bearhawk Builder's Assistance Manual I installed the spring accordingly.
I used this 3/4" impact socket to compress the spring into the cylinder. Piece of cake!
After the springs were installed and the snap ring was in place, I filled each cylinder with synthetic ATF fluid to complete the shock assembly.
Gear strut and gear leg connection. Brake caliper was installed immediately thereafter.
Adjustable rod ends connect the gear struts to the fuselage. Later, I will disassemble and adjust to 72" tire center to tire center at normal flying weight, not to exceed 74". I will replace the jam nuts with thinner AN-8's.
I borrowed a jig from another fellow Bearhawk builder to drill my cotter pin holes. The cotter pin prevents the wheel nut from backing off.
No comments:
Post a Comment