Well, I’ve finished with the new retractable gear installation with the Eurokit legs. To begin with, here is where I got the gear and the part numbers.
http://www.eurokitlucca.it/ (Italy) They have a US distributor, but he didn’t carry the items I needed and advised me to order directly from Italy. Italy was very nice dealing with.. No problems.. The cost for the gear and wheels was $140.00. Pricey, but worth every penny.
Here are the part numbers.
(3) CAR/15051/000 (3) 40mm wheels. RUO/34340/000
Here is what they look like from Italy..
These are the dimensions I used for installing the nose gear and mains on the 1/4 inch alum tubing.. (I used K&S Engineering tubing from TowerHobbies.. 1/4inch, stock No. 3061)
Ready for painting and painted.
This is how I connected the mains together… I took a lot of care to make sure they lined up just perfectly.
Main gear installed in wheel wells.. note set screws.. I’ve got to put a drop of blue Loctite on each set screw yet.. Want to make sure everything is just right first..
The Nose Gear…. I think the pictures tell the story. The nose gear doors operate off the contact switch on the retract servo.. There are 2 indentations on the servo wheel that turn the gear door servo off and on. As you’ll see, the doors open for gear extension and open for gear retract.
The new gear install is complete.. Here’s the finished look.. With and without the weight of the mechanics..
The servo that is in there now is a HS-75, retract servo. I’ve got a heavier duty proportional servo coming that will be used with a GoSlow to slow the servo speed down… to make it look more scale…
The main wheels stick out a little more than I would have liked when retracted, but I’ll have to live with it sense I used a previous retract installation setup. If I had done this installation from scratch I would have made allowances for the wheels by placing the holes for the aluminum rod a tad lower on the bulkhead. If you plan on doing this installation, plan and fit carefully.. Measure many times before cutting or drilling… It looks very cool with the gear extended and that’s what folks will see close up anyway.
Grant and I have PM'd back and fourth on this project and I have told him how impressed I am with his work and finished product. But I wanted to say it publicly...GREAT JOB!!!! Thanks for posting such detail and information. I am saving my money up so mine can look as good as yours!:D
I forgot to mention earlier that on my 'to do' list today is to fabricate some 'fairings' to hide the small part of the wheel that sticks out just like the true scale. I will post pictures when I figure it out. That would solve your issue also.
OK so I took some time today to fabricate the wheel wheel fairings.
The most difficult part of the process was figuring out the proper curvature of the wheel wings.
I used some show cue cards that I had from the Jimmy Kimmel Show (yes, I work in show business and I try to recycle;-) Once I got the curvature figured out, I was able to trace onto the styrene plastic sheet.
Next I used a marker to trace the edge of the fairing on the wheel wing. Then using a Dremel with a saw attachment, I cut a groove in the fuselage the same width as the styrene plastic.
Great job, and thanks for making it so easily understood. I have this fuse and have spent time working out how to do this but your solution fits the bill nicely. thanks
Let me see if I have this right.. It appears you only use one retract gear and servo for the main gear? If so what do you support the other end of the main shaft with? thanks.
nzreg.. That is correct.. there is only one servo to operate the main and nose gear. The alum tubing is supported by a 1/8 doubler epoxied on to the main bulkhead.. The whole assy is very strong.. The alum rod is supported by the plywood doublers on each end and the Century retract locking device attached to its own bulkhead. See my other pictures for the gear attaching method..
looking good on those mods grant. what are those struts made from? keep in mind that when you go to the servo slower, the retract servos cant be used, you will have to use regular servos, and then you may have to use two, one for the mains and one for the nose. i did that with my airwolf i am building. i have also redesigned the front gear structure to accomodate a scale interior. keep the pics coming.
I’ve added a bulkhead to give the nose gear more strength. As you can see, it still allows me the ability to remove the gear box for maintenance if needed.. The original installation only used a tiny screw to hold the nose gear box in with no strength at all. Sense all the factory installed nose bulkheads needed to be removed to make room for the nose gear box, this gives strength and a more stable nose gear.
thats a good idea Grant. i will incorporate that in the future sets i build. i never gave much thought to the strength of the unit especially when i had do a run on landing in an auto that wasnt exactly soft, but no damage. may just have been luck. your rework of the doors look very nice also.
