The Flipside to Grove Gear

For Zion's sake I will not hold my Peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

Isaiah 62:1

Shims and Grove Gear

Hi Scott,

A couple of questions? Did you have to drill out the brackets for the grove gear, or could you just swab them for the standard gear?

Also, are the shim installation directions in the plans somewhere? I have some toe out and need to shim. My first flight (actually test pilots) was last friday. Thanks.

Kind Regards,

Mark Russell

I have reworked two parts of the fuel system in my -8: the fuel valve (changed to Andair) and added a FloScan transducer forward of the firewall. Both times I had trouble with elbows. To eliminate leaks and have it oriented right required over torquing the fitting. I was lucky both times that I did not run into anything like what you did, Scott.

I ended up replacing the elbows with swivel fittings that allowed me to tighten the NPT side to a leak-free state without worrying about orientation or over torquing. Bonaco, Earls and others sell them. Mine were in AN6 size but they sell AN4 size too in both 1/4" and 1/8" NPT.



From looking at your pictures it appears that using these on gear legs would require elongating the hole in the fuselage and it might even make the fittings interfere with the nut plate for the cover.

See page 24 of Bonaco's 2009 catalog. www.bonacoinc.com

Cringeworthy

Scott, that second picture wins the "Cringe of the Day" award.



Sorry about your episode, but thanks very much for posting it so that we who are about to final-mount our Grove gear can learn from it! Your timing was perfect.

I suspect the fitting on the gear leg is not subject to much play, if any. Do you suspect that the leak that started this whole thing was due to the required clocking of the fitting not being coincident with where the fitting was properly tight?

My angle fitting turns 90 degrees from yours (mine goes inboard instead of up, then my tubing turns 90 degrees into the fuselage.) Just wondering if you've seen any evidence of movement at that location on the gear leg that would cause fatigue on either a fitting or a brake line...

use teflon pipe goup, not tape

Just because pipe threads are tapered and the threads fit tight as you tighten the fitting, there is still a spiral leak path at the apex of the thread that must be sealed with pipe sealant. In hydraulic lines, teflon tape is a bad idea because fragments of the tape can clog tiny passeges in apportioning valves, bleed valves, etc. Use teflon pipe sealant.

Its always scary to tighten an elbow to the desired orientation. Should you go one more turn? Do you feel lucky?