Brief Description: Landing gear mount installation
There are certain phrases in the builder's manual that make me worry a bit--one of these was "the gear leg installation couldn't be simpler". The first picture shows how the gear leg, a very stout piece of steel, fits into the mount. Getting it there was anything but simple.
The goal of this step is to fit the leg in the mount, align the holes and drill (or ream) to .311. The challenge comes with the fact that the leg and mount have a very close tolerance and the whole assembly is a bit awkward to work with. I finally decided to use a lot of WD-40 and work it back and forth until it slid in place. This seemed to work fairly well and then I used a drift pin to ensure the holes were aligned. Finally I reamed the hole with my .311 reamer...THIS couldn't have been simpler (maybe that' s the part they meant?) The second leg/mount assembly went about the same and the whole process took almost an hour...
I next turned my attention to the gear mounts. I was a little worried that I might have to do some shimming or slotting to get the parts to fit correctly, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that aside from some gentle tapping with a hammer to get bolts in place, everything fit pretty well. Working around the tubes and flanges proved to be the biggest challenge as I torqued everything in place and called it a day. Ready for wing mate!
