When to put in on the gear

When to put it on the gear

Hi,

When is the best time to put the aircraft on the gear,
before or after installing the engine? I can see advantages
to both, like the aircraft is lower when gear is off, but putting
it on the gear after the engine is installed will be more work.

Thanks for any hints or words of wisdom.

Mickey

before, can't even imagine why it would be done after the engine install

When to put it on the gear

I suppose it would depend somewhat on the order you're doing other stuff. I mounted my engine with the plane supported on some short legs attached to the wood stubs mimicking the spars. This was before I did any wiring or canopy work and before the top front skin was on. Makes it lots easier to reach things. The only disadvantages I've found are that some of the engine hook up stuff is a little hard to reach (you spend a fair amount of time on your knees installing the exhaust, carb, etc.) and, as noted by the previous poster, you then have to lift the whole shebang to put it on the gear. I've done it, though, with an engine lift and it wasn't too bad.

John Miller