Main Gear Doors
The factory-supplied stiffener lighting holes were flared for appearance reasons with the inside face primed with an SLS etch primer before riveting.
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| Gear Door Stiffeners |
With the riveting complete a trial fit was undertaken to reveal a few issues. There was an apparent need to remove some of the stiffeners, an email to the factory showed that the updated instructions now detail this task. The Dremel was fitted with a cutting disc to remove surplus material, then cleaned using a combination of files and 240 grit wet/dry.
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| The cut back shown on the right was extended for additional clearance as the door stiffener was fouling on the undercarriage |
The factory instructions showed an M5 threaded rod bolted through the door skin, it was decided to investigate if this could be avoided while achieving the original design intent.
After modelling, new gear door attachment brackets were prepared with the opportunity to increase the centre distance taken now allowing mounting brackets to be riveted onto the inside face of the undercarriage doors.
The material chosen was HT Polymer Plastic for its combination of strength and melting point with this product exhibiting excellent properties with most materials it could be in contact within service.
The factory-supplied M5 threaded rods were cut into suitable lengths and installed into the rod ends then secured with high strength Loctite. Aluminium angle attachments were fabricated providing mounting points for the doors.
The top bracket clips around the ring located at the end of the gear and are locked into position with a M3 screw on each side of the attachment, next, the lower bracket top side is fitted onto the gear. With the threaded rods fitted the top side, the cart was opened and the lower cap fitted and finally, the inside cap is secured as per the upper with a pair of M3 screws but left loose.
The door is closed and the upper mount aligned to the leg to create the correct the alignment between the doors and opening. Once correct the saddle clamp at the top of the leg is secured with the M3 screws allowing the height of the door to be adjusted. This is a simple trial and error task with the M5 flange nuts adjusted to level the door, a number of tries were required but finally, it did get there.
Once level all the flanged nuts were tightened to securing the door to the leg.
The suitability will be proven in testing but it would appear that the clamps are stronger than the gear doors. The factory has a new method for mounting the doors and is worth investigation.
Comment
A lot of work to remove four [4] nuts on the outside of the doors but looks tidy. A separate blog on the brake hydraulic will be posted as soon as I can get time but for now, look me up on Facebook - G Spencer Salt
