Landing Gear

The landing legs, C-clamped to the bench, have been made ready for wheels and brakes. The main axle fits through an opening in the landing leg, and there are four more bolts for which holes must be drilled. The bolts screw into existing, tapped, holes in a flange that's part of the axle. These are nearly done. I'll have to put washers under the bolts here, apply Loctite 243 (blue) to the threads, and torque them to the specified torque (I'm thinking 11 N-m). I'll also Loctite and torque the main axle bolt on each side.

After tightening up the bolts here, I'll safety-wire the brake disk by running safety wire around the whole disk, using hooks that are built into the red wheel. Wheel pants are in the kit for later installation, though one of the bolts doesn't screw in properly. I may have to buy a die and cut the threads again so that it doesn't cross-thread itself.

An upcoming step will be to turn the whole fuselage upside down, to paint the top of the cockpit and do a few other things. Having the landing gear attached then will make it heavier, but it'll also provide good places to lift. Ah, life is full of pros and cons!