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After reading the latest Service Bulletins, I removed the nose wheel fairing to inspect the nose fork for cracks. I didn?t find any. I also removed the fairings from the main gear tires, in order to give them a careful inspection too. What a job that was, at least for me, possibly because I was working alone, did not have any way to lift the wheels off the ground, and was not the plane?s builder, so what I did and saw was all new to me. That done, I decided not to reinstall the fairings. Instead, I plan to replace the fairings with Matco hub caps. I prefer the look of the fairings, but I like being able to see the tires and brakes, and to easily check the tire pressure.
Taking the main gear fairings off exposed the wheel fairing brackets. They?re no longer necessary, of course, and they are ugly. They make my plane look like the Roman battle chariots I used to see in movies in Saturday afternoon matinees when I was a kid.
My questions:
1. It looks as though I can remove the outboard brackets and bracket mounts (parts U-00002 and U-00004) simply by unscrewing the two bolts (AN3-37A) that fasten the outboard brackets to the wheels. And it looks as though when I do that, I will not be unfastening the wheel from the plane, because (it appears) the wheel is fastened to the axel solely by an Axel Nut. Is that right?
2. I?m less certain whether I can safely remove the inboard fairing brackets. It looks as though the inboard brackets are fastened to the wheels with four bolts (AN3-4A). But I can?t tell whether those four bolts also play a role in fastening the wheels themselves, or the brakes, to the plane. Can I remove the bolts and the brackets without doing anything that makes the wheels and brakes less secure?
Taking the main gear fairings off exposed the wheel fairing brackets. They?re no longer necessary, of course, and they are ugly. They make my plane look like the Roman battle chariots I used to see in movies in Saturday afternoon matinees when I was a kid.
My questions:
1. It looks as though I can remove the outboard brackets and bracket mounts (parts U-00002 and U-00004) simply by unscrewing the two bolts (AN3-37A) that fasten the outboard brackets to the wheels. And it looks as though when I do that, I will not be unfastening the wheel from the plane, because (it appears) the wheel is fastened to the axel solely by an Axel Nut. Is that right?
2. I?m less certain whether I can safely remove the inboard fairing brackets. It looks as though the inboard brackets are fastened to the wheels with four bolts (AN3-4A). But I can?t tell whether those four bolts also play a role in fastening the wheels themselves, or the brakes, to the plane. Can I remove the bolts and the brackets without doing anything that makes the wheels and brakes less secure?