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landing gear outboard bracket placement

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designerX

Well Known Member
-8 Builders,

On drawing page 75 insert AA - the outboard ubracket's for landing gear are to be 3/16" from the lower longeron edge.. how critical is this dimension? My right side is 1/4 and left is 5/16".. the brackets will need to be ground/filed to meet that 3/16" distance. What did others experience?

Thank you in advance,

Stan
 
Hit the pause button

Stan,
I think the 3/16? measurement is more to insure that the u-bracket/landing gear attach hole goes through the middle of the F-843 longeron where the maximum strength is maintained. I am no engineer ? so I cannot tell you if the 1/4? and 5/16? would cause a problem but I would surely not grind or file the u-brackets! I have the Grove gear and the outboard u-bracket was tight fitting around the gear. I asked them if I should sand the u-bracket or sand the gear to make it fit and they said, definitely sand the gear and do not touch the u-bracket. At this point, your best bet is to talk to Van?s as they would have the final say. Good luck! :)
 
I just finished drilling my slow-build 8 landing gear brackets to the fuselage. The 3/16" measurement will put the holes in the center of the bottom longeron and also in the steel weldment above that. Having those holes in the right place will probably make life easier down the road when you torque the nuts onto the outboard landing gear bolts.

I was able to get the 3/16" on my fuselage by trimming, slightly, the ends of the Z-channels (802L & K) and the 850 and 851 belly skins.

Good luck!
 
izzybear said:
Stan,
I think the 3/16? measurement is more to insure that the u-bracket/landing gear attach hole goes through the middle of the F-843 longeron where the maximum strength is maintained. I am no engineer ? so I cannot tell you if the 1/4? and 5/16? would cause a problem but I would surely not grind or file the u-brackets! I have the Grove gear and the outboard u-bracket was tight fitting around the gear. I asked them if I should sand the u-bracket or sand the gear to make it fit and they said, definitely sand the gear and do not touch the u-bracket. At this point, your best bet is to talk to Van?s as they would have the final say. Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

Thank you Jim. Absolutely agree on pausing to figure this out since I only get 1 chance at getting this right.. and yes, my concern is with centering on the F-843 longeron. Now that everything is assembled it's impossible to measure how far inboard/outboard the hole centerlines will be from the web outboard and edge inboard.
 
FlyGood said:
I just finished drilling my slow-build 8 landing gear brackets to the fuselage. The 3/16" measurement will put the holes in the center of the bottom longeron and also in the steel weldment above that. Having those holes in the right place will probably make life easier down the road when you torque the nuts onto the outboard landing gear bolts.

I was able to get the 3/16" on my fuselage by trimming, slightly, the ends of the Z-channels (802L & K) and the 850 and 851 belly skins.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Ken,

Thanks for the reply. I hear you on the bolt/nut position and having enough space for the washer to be flush.

I'm not sure I understand your solution.. do you happen to have an early kit (before matched hole?)

Stan
 
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Stan, in all likelihood, Van's support will tell you to build on - after all, it's only off by a 1/16" and an 1/8"...so call Van's, put your mind at ease and get back to building. :D


designerX said:
Thank you Jim. Absolutely agree on pausing to figure this out since I only get 1 chance at getting this right.. and yes, my concern is with centering on the F-843 longeron. Now that everything is assembled it's impossible to measure how far inboard/outboard the hole centerlines will be from the web outboard and edge inboard.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, I do have a pre-match-hole kit. As I fitted the U-Brackets (Grove gear) there was a little interference between them and the ends of the Z-channels. I had to file a little material off the ends of the channels to allow the U-Brackets to sit square on the floorboard skin. Probably a different problem than the match-hole kit.
 
Thanks guys. I'll contact Vans for direction.

This is also a challenging area to clamp for drilling the first u-bracket hole. I'm sure my drill has enough torque to over-power the single bolt holding everything perfectly aligned.
 
Follow up..

Well I should know better than to doubt Van's CNC matched hole parts. After disassembling the parts (and all the alignment work) we polished a small edge off of the outboard ubracket and cleaned some protective coating off both gear legs and both sides met the 3/16" distance. After drilling and checking inside the gear towers.. the holes appear centered inside the weldment's channel. Thanks Van's! and thank you VAFers!

Re-aligning everything was time consuming.. but now I shouldn't have to worry about alignment issues when wheel landing her. :D
 
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