Model I with Grove Grear on a very nice, smooth paved runway (yeah, right) or an island cow trail:
Model I with Grove Grear on a very nice, smooth paved runway (yeah, right) or an island cow trail:
Steve Wilson
Huntsville, UT
Kitfox 85DD
912A / 3 Blade Taper Tip Warp Drive
Convertible Nosewheel & Tailwheel
SkySteve's SPOT Page
SkySteve's You Tube Videos
being very close to the strut carry thru,..did you have to add much support around the lower longerons Steve? or was there enough " meat" there already?
Chase
If you want to look on how ot make a tougher gear then look at what Highlander has done. Look at the video with the slats to see how you can hammer this gear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ccYFqY4Ymg
The guys making them now should be using the front float attach bracket as well making it a 50% improvment in gear strength as you know has 3 legs rather than 2. plus the weight is distributed over 3 attach points rather then 2 .
But remember the longerons are not strong enough to take a real beating especially the models 1 and 2 and 3
Guys were bending the 1/4 bolts and now using 5/16" diameter bolts.
The new highlander gear with the new suspension allows for I bet 10 to 16" of travel. the Cabane style cannot take this.
I have done some pretty radical flying in very rough terrain with stock gear. Model 4 though which I bet is 50 % plus stronger than the earlier thinner wall tubing.
Food for thought before you write off your plane using a gear that you only think might take a beating and it jus might but the "chain is only as strong as the weakest link".
It's all experimental until you find something that doesnt leave you stranded with , options are working with what you have, and keep in mind, what your working with
Dave F,
When designing my gear for the Kitfox 1, I considered a 3 point attachment of the gear legs. My mod does not have the forward attach points. Although from what I understand the forward points Centerline is not inline with the other 2 attach points anyway. My hard landing was extremely hard yet the gear fared fine.
Dave
Last edited by FoxDB; 08-12-2013 at 09:16 PM. Reason: Spelling