The golf cart tire supplied rubbed the inside of the gear fork so I recently
needed to jack the fuselage up to allow changing the tire to a Macreary. The
fuselage is on the gear in my garage, stabilized with legs from the plywood
spar stubs.
Prior discussion on this forum suggested lift pads under the wings for
jacking however this requires considerable space i.e. a hangar or working in
the driveway which is not practical at this time of year.
To jack the fuselage up without installing the wings I made a jack pad from a
6 inch long piece of 2 X 8. This was temporarily held up against the gear
arm so that it cleared the tire by about 1/4 inch and the arc on the inside
of the leg was traced onto the wood. Four 1/4 inch holes were drilled 1/4
inch from this arc, closer to the tire. The centermost holes were 1 inch
---From the centerline; the others were spaced 1 inch beyond the center holes.
The top surface was countersunk for the nuts fitted to bolts through these
holes. Two inch long 1/4 inch bolts, washers and nuts were installed. Half
inch long sections of plastic tubing left over from the fuel gauge were
fitted to the protruding part of each bolt. Thus, this wood piece fits
against the gear arm, the nuts are below the surface, and the plastic pieces
protect the inside of the arc where the bolts contact it to prevent the wood
---From sliding up the arm.
A piece of 2 X 4 was cut to fit crossways onto the bottom side of the 2 X 8.
This 2 X 4 was cut lengthwise at 45 degrees through one corner. This was
then screwed to the 2 X 8 using 3 lag screws (large wood screws with hex
heads) where the heads were countersunk so that they were below the upper
surface of the 2 X 8. The 45 degree section is oriented so that when the
jacking block is in place this provides a horizontal surface for the jack to
fit against.
In use, a piece of cloth is placed between the jacking block and the gear arm
to protect the paint. I used an inexpensive floor jack to lift the fuselage
-- this must be used from the side rather than from the front of the aircraft
otherwise the wheels on
the jack interfere with the main wheel. When jacked this way, the gear arm
will extend slightly during jacking because the jack point is closer to the
arm's fulcrum. The fuselage had to be lifted about 2 inches to have the wheel
clear the floor due to this effect. As the fuselage is jacked, spacers
should be added under the stabilizing arms to maintain the fuselage
approximately level side to side.
I was initially hesitant to remove the wheel while supporting the fuselage
with my wondrous invention. I jacked it up slowly and let it sit for a while,
pushed on the fuselage a bit to establish that it was reasonably stable, etc.
Finally, I decided that it would hold for the hour or so it would take to
change the tire. Naturally, the tire wouldn't come off the rim so off to a
tire shop (it should hold for a couple more hours). After re-assembling with
the new tire, the tube leaked due to a defect at the valve stem. Eight days
later it is now back on the gear with a new tube installed.
This little adventure does bring up a question: What does one do if a tire
problem occurs while traveling? How does one jack the Europa up without a
jacking block or wing pads?
John A044 Newtown, CT
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