Nose gear to cowling clearance

[Birdseyeview]

I'm mounting my lower cowl on my series 6 for the first time and wondering what others have done for clearances cuts for the nose gear and its rubber spring assembly. I've got the smooth cowl around a 912ULS (no boot cowl). So far all I've cut is a 1" wide slot so the rubber spring assembly sits on the top of the cowling skin (see the picture below). Am I eventually going to have to cut a round hole big enough to allow the whole rubber spring assembly to pass through the bottom cowl? Do I also need to cut a longer wider slot forward of the rubber spring assembly in the cowl for clearance when the nose gear is compressed? If so about how far forward should it extend? I'm being cautious before I cut up the lower cowl too much.

[Dorsal]

http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16002&stc=1&d=1529526456

This is a pic of my lower cowl, have since cleaned up the edges a bit.

[Dave S]

Birdseye,


One thing to keep in mind is the bottom of the cowl is several inches below the bottom edge of the firewall, and the biscuit pack. The attached photo shows, similar to Dorsal's, that just enough needs to be removed to provide clearance for the strut and rod end. The biscuit pack does not extend to conflict with the bottom of the cowl; and, the actual amount of compression and extension at that point is not very much.


It's a trial and error fit; but you don't have to get very aggressive with the cutout - just enough so things don't contact in normal use.

[Birdseyeview]

Thanks for the response and the pictures. It strikes me that your cowls on the series 7 may be different than mine to some degree because don't you have a boot cowl that is close to the firewall on which the biscuit stack may ride near? On the series 5 and 6 smooth cowl models we don't have the boot cowl so I'm still wondering if my cutout needs to be longer (forward from the biscuit centerline). Or is the biscuit centerline the same distance in from the aft edge of your bottom cowl as mine?

[Dave S]

Larry,


I believe you may have a point.......I have to admit that I wasn't focused on the two piece on the S6 as opposed to the 3 piece (boot cowl version) S7 cowl.



What I can share is the S7 boot cowl starts exactly at the firewall, if that reference helps any.


You are correct that the two versions may require different treatment.



Does the build manual shed any light on this?

[Birdseyeview]

Unfortunately the build manual is very vague in this area. I was hoping someone may have a picture of the bottom of their cowl showing any clearance cuts that they needed to prevent nose gear biscuit and gear tube interferences.

[efwd]

On the SS7 the boot cowl would not be involved with the nose gear as it is a three sided wrap of fiberglass. Leading edge of the boot cowl starts at the firewall and extends back to the windshield and doors. There is no bottom to the boot cowl.