Wheel pants and Axles - 3.5 Hours (136.5 Total)

Today I received the new wheel pant and longer axles along with some other hardware I ordered from Rans.

I drilled the hole that holds the stopper bolt into the main gear axles and installed them onto the landing gear.

I then spent 2.5 hours determining the proper location for the axle bolt hole in the wheel pants and proper angle of the wheel pants. The trashed wheel pant came in handy as a test piece during the process. I determined that the axle hole needs to 7/8 of an inch below the dimples in the wheel pants. This gives a half inch of clearance between the top of the tire and the inside of the wheel pant.

I was able to determine the proper mounting angle of the wheel pant by letting the plane rest on its main wheels and the tail skid. I rotated the pant until the flat edge on the pant was parallel to the ground, ~1.75 inch above the ground. To achieve this mounting angle, I sat the wheel pant on a piece of 4x4 lumber that let the wheel pant rest on the leading and trailing edge of the hole cut out for the wheel. I considered this level for the wheel pant. Then I drew a line on the wheel pant that had a 1.5" rise over a 12" run and intersected the axle center point. I did this by taping a small block on a 24" straight edge at a point that raised the end of the straight edge 3" off the surface. I then drilled holes for the bolts that attach the wheel pant to the brake mechanism. These holes are 3" from the axle center point on the line drawn on the wheel pant. This assumes that the bolts which hold the axle socket to the brake mechanism are in line with the wheel pant attach bolts. I then figured that the location of the brake housing stop should be at 30 degrees from the line and 2.75 inches from the axle center (this turned out to be the wrong location). At this location I would drill a 3/4 inch hole out for the brake housing stop.