Hi Nigel-
A bathroom scale shows my main gear to weigh 34 pounds total, and 28 lbs.
with the swing axle supported. I have it out of the fuselage now, so I
can't measure it just out of its down lock, but perhaps these numbers will
help.
Cheers,
Pops
A036
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa@post.aviators.net
Subject: Monowheel spring
I am looking at designing a spring system to replace the bungee on the
monowheel. I think the reason it has not been done up to now is that the
bungee (unlike a normal spring) keeps a relatively constant spring tension
whether the gear is up or down. This is because the effectively length
change of the whole bungee over the range of movement is small whereas on a
conventional spring it is not. The disadvantages of the bungee are that it
is awkward to adjust and it weakens with time. I intend to overcome the
spring change of tension problem by arranging the geometry so that the
reduction of tension as the gear is raised is compensated for by a change
of mechanical advantage. I have worked out the angles but need some
information without disassembling my landing gear. Can someone who is just
starting to set up their landing gear please measure the weight of the
mainwheel and leg fully assembled minus the bungee for me (ie put a set of
scales under the mainwheel with the mainwheel just out of its down lock.
This will enable me to estimate the moment required to offset the weight of
the completed leg.
Nigel Charles
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