Chapter 13

8/26/01

Chapter 13
Nose Gear

This chapter is where I got to spend some of the most money per pound to date. What you see here is the NG30 all sanded and prepped for installation of F0 and F5, which will hold the Nose Strut and the Nose Lift Assembly. I plan on using Jack Wilhelmson's Noselift. It requires no modifications to F22, and displays some of the best workmanship in the business. I bought the MKNG6A by Jack as well. It comes highly recommended to eliminate high-speed shimmy and looseness in the front end assembly. As an accessory to the Nose Lift, you can get an automatic nose gear extension switch, which is triggered by airspeed. I hadn't planned on getting it, but I happened to mention it to Debbi, and well, now it is going to be standard equipment on this plane. (That's the last time I discuss things like that again.... too expensive.)

I kept the bottom of the assembly square for as long as possible (see left) during the construction of this section. This made it easier to keep alignment accurate for drilling holes and what-not. The more square you can keep things, the less you have to adjust during the installation process.

After all the holes were drilled, (perfectly), I then used the Fein saw to cut the bottom curvature, clamped the two halves together and using the first as a template, cut the other NG30 to match.

At right is a shot of the Nose Strut getting glassed.

Next, installed F0 and F5. Nothing major to report here. Everything according to plans....sofar. After getting this thing together, I can see how strong this assembly really is.

Here's the spot where I first tape the NG30 assembly to F22. It's real important here to ENSURE you get the nose strut perpendicular to the fuselage. Otherwise, you may be in for a nice jump to the left or right when you land. I bought a laser level for this step. It made finding plumb/level very easy and accurate.

Next I fit the bottom half of the Nose section to the fuselage. As you can see, I got Jeff Russell's nose instead of going the plans method. I really wanted a perfect finish on this part of the plane, so I'd have something to gauge the rest of the finishing to. It really is amazing how a few feet of 2 layer BID makes things feel rock-solid.

2/15/04
MAJOR SHIFT IN REALITY:
I had some pictures of the Nose gear doors using the oft' mentioned Spring method. I thought it was nice and simple. But then, I heard stories about nose doors being ripped out by their roots by an errant crosswind causing the doors to partially close. It just gave me an uneasy feeling in that I'm trying to build this plane so that I don't have to spend much time repairing "Acts of God" and what-not. So... I re-made it. At left, see before and after. I re-did the way the doors are attached to the fuselage (rivets vs. screws ala: speed brake)

Also, if this design doesn't stop God from raining on my parade, ie: crunches the doors... I can merrilly remove them from the fuselage with simple tools and be on my way.

It's comprised of 4 MM3 rod ends, some 3/8" 4130 tubing, and about 40 hours of intense labor (I'm a slow learner.). It's held open by the rod you see protruding from the bottom (really top) of the wheel well. The below picture shows the simplest spring mechanism I could come up with. I used Delrin rod stock for the bearing surfaces. Having a TIG welder really came in handy here.

New and Improved

And finally, here is the finished product. The belly of this plane will be very clean.

Lastly, Here's the Wilhelmson Nose lift w/AEX Option.

It went in as advertised. Wiring it up should be a breeze.

Above is the retract spring for the doors.
Looks too simple, doesn't it?