Jon,
The Europa gear leg is predrilled. The mounting tube is inserted into the
fuselage and rotated to align the predrilled gear leg with the angle iron e
poxied to the floor at a 90 degree angle and at the proper station position
.
Note:
Gear legs are hardened steel and prone to cracking at bends and next to wel
ds so inspect even new parts.
Yes, gear legs can get bent. Replacing the gear leg with new is a bit anno
ying as the alignment may not be perfect with the replacement leg in the Eu
ropa but the replacement legs in the past are very close to the original ge
ar legs. I=92ve not tried to straighten hardened steel.
Note:
A common problem in older aircraft which use the spring steel gear legs is
the wallowing out of the gear tube support in aircraft like the Europa, RV
and many others. As time goes on, the bolt hole in the tube the hardened g
ear leg is inserted and bolted into starts to wallow out due to vibration,
twisting, and assorted landing stresses. Most RV owners with wear problems
weld them (which is a pain). Since the Europa gear support tube is mounte
d in glass, a welding repair is not recommended. It is better, in my opin
ion, to enlarge the tube hole a few thousands and use a drilled and machine
d standard chrome molly tube as a bushing to compress and expand to fill th
e new wider tube hole. A grade 8 bolt with an Allen head squeezes the moll
y into the void reasonably well, although much more pressure is needed to e
xpand the =93soft=94 steel tube enough to fill the void as an expansion bus
hing would do. Talk about tedious. The alignment process is really tough
as the tube hole normally is wallowed out only a small amount and is an ell
ipse which is not uniform. Much tedious mirror work, drilling, filing and
rounding. Making the chrome molly bushing into a precise fit is very time
consuming, but when done, it really tightens the gear up. Since the bushin
g is short, rounded to fit the leg and mistakes may be made, I made a fairl
y long bushing 5/16 ID and 3/8 OD, fit it, then cut to length. If that pla
ne ever needs another bushing he has a replacement if it didn=92t get lost.
Alternatively, some have just Reduxed the gear leg in and carried on. Not
a long term fix, and not my preference.
Drilling hardened steel is nothing I do in a shop with a vice personally.
Once marked, I take it to a machine shop and using the proper bits and dril
ling on a slow turning mill, cut and ream the steel. I=92ve not done drill
ing on the main gear legs, just flat spring steel. Cobalt bits and no pilot
hole and a heavy feed and lots of oil works. Slow and steady. Good machi
nists understand and have the equipment for drilling properly aligned holes
.
Enough of my opinion.
Bud Yerly
Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Window
s 10
________________________________
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com <owner-europa-list-server@matr
onics.com> on behalf of JonathanMilbank <jdmilbank@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2018 9:04:25 PM
Subject: Europa-List: Replace undercarriage leg
>
My friend did a heavy arrival in his Rans S6, getting pushed sideways by a
sudden gust which bent the right u/c leg, broke the nose wheel leg and prop
eller, but very little else was harmed. The engine is away for shock load t
esting and we've replaced the nose wheel leg. Our LAA inspector is satisfie
d that the airframe including the socket for the bent leg is completely unh
armed.
The reason I'm asking for your advice is that it's possible for a leg to ge
t bent and need replacing in a Europa, which has a similar leg fitting into
a similar socket. I don't know whether the Europa leg comes with the hole
pre-drilled for securing in the socket, but the leg for the S6 doesn't.
We've read the aircraft build instructions, which show making a simple jig
with angle iron and attached pads to ensure that the axles are aligned. For
me the scary bit will be trying to mark the exact centres on the side(s) o
f the leg for the entry and exit holes through the solid leg, to coincide e
xactly with the holes in the socket. The leg steel is extremely hard and co
balt drill bits are required, to be drilled at slow speed with plenty of co
oling fluid, while the leg is supported in V-blocks.
Even marking the leg with a centre punch might be easier said than done, so
considering that I've never attempted such a task before and how expensive
the leg was, your advice is sorely needed.
Read this topic online here:
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