| Author | Message | ||
     tom ware (Tommie) |
I did get feed back on the new alum. gear mentioned in the news letter the glass gear I have was made by eac. and was purchased last year of course I have the new design mounting brackets. question being spec. what if any problems did anyone have with this type of gear? would it be safe to use it ,is anyone considering going to the new alum. gear? has anyone purchased a new style cowl from EAC? $$$??? i have one of larrys first prod. IO540 cowls which was real bad as per quality workmanship! he had promised to "take care of me" when he has the new ones avail. still waiting! dont get me wrong i do support the factory even suppied him with the templates for speed brake locations in the wings. i forgot whom it was that was kind enough to get them to me. but i hate to be a test bed for items at premium$$ should i also consider upgrading bushing on the control linkage in the wings to niddle bearing type while they are still open?? may have posed these question before must have CRS just getting back to building thanks folks | ||
| Jay Villalva |
I visited the factory last week and had a chance to talk with Larry about the aluminum gear (I too, purchased the fiberglass gear and fittings last years). Larry explained the main reason for the new aluminum gear was for consistency during construction. The second reason was the desire to raise the gross aircraft weight. Larry explained that the fiberglass gear was taking several attempts to get the alignment just right to minimize undesired tire wear. Larry said that the aluminum gear eliminate the inconsistencies that can result between the fiberglass gear legs. I still plain to use the glass legs and hardwear that I got last year. There are still aircraft flying with them and I haven’t heard of any problems.... | ||
| Kevin Dennes (Kdennes) |
I am building the 2000 and was supplied with the glass gear. However Larry did instruct me to "bandage" the legs with extra glass cloth so as to avoid vibrations or shimmy (or something similar). I was at the factory in September 2000 and saw an aircraft that had returned from being test flown by Larry. It had badly cracked and damaged the wheel fairings and as a result I saw them go through the exercise of the "bandaging" of the legs. Question. Has anyone else suffered from this problem. Larry assures me that the legs will be OK now, however we are being very cautious and would like further input before we decide whether to use them or to purchase the new metal ones. Regards. Kevin (from Downunder) | ||
| wayne norris |
I have been suspect of these glass gear legs from the start. I am going to vacuum bag a layer of 10oz carbon fiber on both sides, and have already wrapped 2 layers of bid at the bottom 10" and top end. Looked like a split about to happen. I figered that if they are just marginal now, any thing to stiffen them will help. But we won't know till Spring. If not then it's aluminum gear for me and I'm only out 50$ and a days work. Wayne Norris | ||
| Jerry Sjostrand |
Kevin, Wayne, and builders. You should be aware that one of our builders, Bob Gisburne in the Phoenix, Arizona area, did have both problems with the glass legs from Larry. One split on the spindle end requiring a replacement part. He also had a terrible vibration problem with the gear when the wheel pants were installed. I worked on his at the time and managed to get them braced so it nearly eliminated the "shake". It was very bad. If Larry is saying to beef them up by applying additional wraps of glass, etc, then you should plan on doing it and hope for the best. The use of aluminum legs is a better solution but that would require more "$" and that is a choice you have to make. We early builders who got the glass legs from Wheeler had to replace them with heavy steel legs but they work fine. Those steel legs were difficult to produce to uniform standards but many builders and I managed to use them. They are heavy but, as I found out in the last hard landing, they will take a lot of punishment, and, they are re-bendable to make the airplane sit correct again. I believe that if I had had the fiberglass legs, they would have gone through the wings and done a lot of damage. Mine bent some and the wings were undamaged. Aluminum gear legs should offer the same margin of safety. | ||
| Larry Hoppe |
We purchased a partially built Auriga kit which came with two sets of fiberglass gear - both were listed as less than adequate. My son and I tested one of the more robust fiberglass gear in a jig and it failed by delamination in the main bend (he as photos). The basic issue with fiberglass gear is that there is essentially no strength through the thickness of the gear. When the bend is under load, the inside fibers want to get longer and the outside shorter. This can be accomplished by delamination of the inside fibers. So, he ordered aluminum gear from Grove. We supplied the 7050 alloy plate to make them from. Haven't received the finished gear but it should be arriving shortly. | ||
| Bill Copeland |
While in VA last year working with Jim Lewis on his Auriga kit we found that his glass main gear came with two reinforcing plates for each leg. Designed for the bend where the leg enters the wing they appeared to be 4130 steel about 0.050 inches thick. A bolt pattern for approx 15 3/16 inch bolts was pre-drilled. We did not get time to install the plates so I cannot speak to that. Let your conscence be your guide!! | ||
| Dennis Warner |
I've read all the above stories. I think you'll find this one of interest. I've been flying my Express for eleven years on glass gear. Our Express has 740 hours on it and approximatly 500 landings, a few hard ones also. After 12 months of flying the gear was stiffened with outter uni- and bi-directional wraps. Now 10 years later I have fractures in three of the four corners of rib R near the bracket. Most of this occured on the first flight after my annual. I experienced an extreme shimmy. I'm concerned for other builders who have beefed up their glass gear but not rib R. Please check rib R during your annual. I'm now in the process of repairing the rib and I'm strongly concidering the new aluminum gear. Can anyone give some input/experience on the glass gear. Dennis | ||
| Brian McKinney (Bmckinney) |
I am getting close to the closing stage and was considering attempting some additional means of beefing up Rib R to prevent what happened to Dennis' rib. I have already applied a few more layers of glass to both sides than originally called for the in the old manuals. I am looking at making two steel plates that are the shape of the forward 2/3's of Rib R. I'd attach the plate using a structural adhesive (similar to the stuff used on the Auriga glass legs bend plates), and then attach the main gear bracket (EAC style) as usual to sandwich the plates with the 5 bolts on Rib R. To me this should reduce stress in the corners of the opening in Rib R and help to distribute the weight throughout the rib. My finished Express (2008?) may be flying off of a grass strip, so I want as much strength as I can get. The drawing below shows my rough idea. Any thoughts?  Thanks, Brian | ||
| Brian McKinney (Bmckinney) |
Picture I forgot to add...  |