Removed The Main Gear

The past three weeks have been very busy in the embroidery shop. Things have slowed enough to get some time on the fuselage. It's been to cold to spray on the wings. We may have to move them back up to the attic for the winter. Most everything has already been removed from the fuselage. There are a few steel parts which need to be removed and repainted, rusty. The gear legs are one of those and it seemed better to start there. We needed to remove them to properly clean them and epoxy prime the metal.

To remove the gear you need to get at the main bolt in the fuselage. The Bolts that hold the wedges in are easy to get at from outside. The wedges jam the spring steel tight in the frame so the legs don't rattle around on landing. To hold up the fuselage and get the doors open the easiest place to support it is at the rear spar attach fittings, behind the doors. Two 2x4 rails were laid on the ground and vertical pieces cut to fit over the spar fittings. Diagonal braces were added to stabilize the posts and everything is screwed together. I put a bolt through the 2 cross braces just to make it more rigid.

Some weight was needed on the tail even without the engine or anything in the cabin. I used a 5/16" bolt so there wouldn't be any severe loads on the spar fittings. The fuselage just sets on the bolts.

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With the doors open it was easy to get to the bolts. You need a 3/8" allen wrench for the bolt and a 12 point 9/16" wrench for the nut. A little tapping on the inside of the gear leg with a soft mallet got the wedges out and then it's just a matter of sliding the leg out. I thought I might need to support the gear but they don't move once the bolts are out.

The mains are off and in the shop for cleaning and painting. I'll also clean up the wheels and repack the bearings so once it's all done we won't need to take any of it apart before the plane flys.