Has anyone built their own landing gear?

[Lou]

I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
plans, their own
landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
Anyone? Anyone?
Lou

[Dick[_1_]]

simplest I've seen is the Hummelbird , which has an internal spring inside a
single tube connected to the front wing spar. Connection bracketry might be
adaptable to your oleo type...
"Lou" > wrote in message
...
> I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
> plans, their own
> landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
> plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
> want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
> brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
> Anyone? Anyone?
> Lou

[cavelamb himself[_4_]]

Lou wrote:
> I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
> plans, their own
> landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
> plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
> want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
> brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
> Anyone? Anyone?
> Lou


What design, Lou?

--
(remove the X to email)

Now just why the HELL do I have to press 1 for English?
John Wayne

[Bill Daniels]

"cavelamb himself" > wrote in message
...
> Lou wrote:
>> I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
>> plans, their own
>> landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
>> plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
>> want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
>> brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
>> Anyone? Anyone?
>> Lou
>
>
> What design, Lou?
>
> --
> (remove the X to email)
>
> Now just why the HELL do I have to press 1 for English?
> John Wayne

This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
often gets overlooked.

Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle rear
suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
light aircraft.

[Lou]

> This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
> often gets overlooked.
>
> Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle rear
> suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
> light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
> light aircraft.

It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
the rear or
front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
seem to stay
together.
Caveman, it's called an Asso V. Asso is Italian for Ace or thats
what I've been told. The picture
that the link goes to is red, so that means that somewhere there is a
big red asso flying around.
Lou

http://www.homebuilt.org/kits/littner/champion.html

[flybynightkarmarepair]

On May 11, 4:20 am, Lou > wrote:
> I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
> plans, their own
> landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
> plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
> want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
> brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
> Anyone? Anyone?
> Lou

First, the disclaimer: I have no personal experience building such a
gear.

The design and fabrication of an oleo-pneumatic landing gear is not,
IMHO, impossible for a dedicated homebuilder, but it looks pretty
challenging. Ladislao Pazmany wrote a book "Landing Gear Design for
Light Aircraft" that tells you how, and his Pl-1 and PL-2 designs have
plans for such a gear. Much welding and machining to a fairly high
standard is required.

http://www.pazmany.com/

Perhaps better you should visit an aircraft salvage yard and see if
anything from the main gear of a Piper Cherokee or the nose gear of
either a Piper or Cessna will work for your application.

[cavelamb himself[_4_]]

Lou wrote:
>>This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
>>often gets overlooked.
>>
>>Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle rear
>>suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
>>light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
>>light aircraft.
>
>
> It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
> the rear or
> front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
> seem to stay
> together.
> Caveman, it's called an Asso V. Asso is Italian for Ace or thats
> what I've been told. The picture
> that the link goes to is red, so that means that somewhere there is a
> big red asso flying around.
> Lou
>
> http://www.homebuilt.org/kits/littner/champion.html

That looks suspiciously like a Falco!

1000 pounds gross weight
Say 3 G's impact loading (on each leg, becaues sometimes that's exactly
what happens.

I'g go with 3000 pounds leg loading vertical and 1-1/2 G side load (1500
pounds)

Are you up on landing gear design?
(I'm guesing no, since you are asking here)

How about this...
Build it per plans, but with a fixed retract link?


Richard

And it's Lamb, Lou.
We're real sensitave about that the since Geico commercials.

--
(remove the X to email)

Now just why the HELL do I have to press 1 for English?
John Wayne

[Bill Daniels]

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
>
>> This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
>> often gets overlooked.
>>
>> Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle
>> rear
>> suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
>> light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
>> light aircraft.
>
> It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
> the rear or
> front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
> seem to stay
> together.

My Kawasaki weighs about 700 pounds with 65% of that on the rear wheel. It
has a monoshock strut that has adjustable damping and is load adjustable by
adding compressed air. The trailing link lever arm is probably 4:1 so that
strut is holding up about 1600 pounds. Sounds like it might be workable.

BTW, there is a main gear design trick used on the very last piston engine
fighters like the Bearcat. The main struts rotated as they compressed so as
to increase the toe-out. This had the effect of making the airplane
resistant to a ground loop - in effect, steering into the skid. In a
swerve, the weight would transfer to the outside main wheel compressing that
strut and turning the wheel to the outside.

[Lou]

>
> And it's Lamb, Lou.
> We're real sensitave about that the since Geico commercials.
>

Sorry Cavelamb, I think I've done that before.
Nothing personal.
Other people have said it looks like a small falco. Maybe
I should finish this up so I can build a Falco.
Lou

[Orval Fairbairn[_2_]]

In article
>,
Lou > wrote:

> > This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
> > often gets overlooked.
> >
> > Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle rear
> > suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
> > light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
> > light aircraft.
>
> It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
> the rear or
> front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
> seem to stay
> together.
> Caveman, it's called an Asso V. Asso is Italian for Ace or thats
> what I've been told. The picture
> that the link goes to is red, so that means that somewhere there is a
> big red asso flying around.
> Lou
>
> http://www.homebuilt.org/kits/littner/champion.html

I have a question:

Why do you want to cobble up such a beautiful, clean design with a fixed
landing gear? It seems to me that you want to spend a lot of time,
effort and money on making your plane slower and less efficient than the
basic design.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

[Lou]

On May 11, 7:30 pm, Orval Fairbairn >
wrote:
> In article
> >,
>
>
>
> Lou > wrote:
> > > This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
> > > often gets overlooked.
>
> > > Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle rear
> > > suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
> > > light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
> > > light aircraft.
>
> > It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
> > the rear or
> > front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
> > seem to stay
> > together.
> > Caveman, it's called an Asso V. Asso is Italian for Ace or thats
> > what I've been told. The picture
> > that the link goes to is red, so that means that somewhere there is a
> > big red asso flying around.
> > Lou
>
> >http://www.homebuilt.org/kits/littner/champion.html
>
> I have a question:
>
> Why do you want to cobble up such a beautiful, clean design with a fixed
> landing gear? It seems to me that you want to spend a lot of time,
> effort and money on making your plane slower and less efficient than the
> basic design.
>
> --
> Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

I know, sounds ridiculous. But I look at it this way. Given the
numbers the way they
are, it may or may not hurt by putting in fixed gear. With insurance
cost going up
for retract, I didn't feel it to be a good investment. Also, this is
my first plane and
I want to keep it as simple as possible. Last but not least, and I'm
not sure on this,
but with the speeds and weight, it can qualify for LSA with fixed
gear.
Lou

[Rich S.[_1_]]

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
> I'm curious if anyone has either designed and built or built from
> plans, their own
> landing gear and how they did it. I know, I know, I could follow the
> plans. But the plans call for a retractable gear system that I don't
> want at this time. What I'm looking for is a oleo strut style with
> brackets that attach to the spars. Anyone?
> Anyone? Anyone?
> Lou

Lou ...........

The Emeraude plans include a gear much like the one you're looking for. I've
built two of them now, one for my plane and one for another fellow's
project. While it doesn't have an oleo system, it works excellently. There
is a main spring on the top and a lighter rebound spring on the bottom, all
within the upper leg. It is intended for an aircraft weight of 800 - 1000#
empty with a ~500# useful load. Spring selection can change that to less if
you like, but the gear is plenty beefy to even handle more. There are two
flanges welded on the upper leg which "sandwich" around the main spar and
bolt through blocks glued on the outside of the spar.

Oops - just thought of something. Are you talking about a conventional gear
or a milk stool?

Rich S.

[Lou]

> The Emeraude plans include a gear much like the one you're looking for. I've
> built two of them now, one for my plane and one for another fellow's
> project. While it doesn't have an oleo system, it works excellently. There
> is a main spring on the top and a lighter rebound spring on the bottom, all
> within the upper leg. It is intended for an aircraft weight of 800 - 1000#
> empty with a ~500# useful load. Spring selection can change that to less if
> you like, but the gear is plenty beefy to even handle more. There are two
> flanges welded on the upper leg which "sandwich" around the main spar and
> bolt through blocks glued on the outside of the spar.
>
> Oops - just thought of something. Are you talking about a conventional gear
> or a milk stool?
>
> Rich S.

Hi Rich,
This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Is it a bad idea to
ask if you still have
the drawings for the landing gear?. By the way, what the heck is the
milk stool.
Lou

[Peter Dohm]

"cavelamb himself" > wrote in message
m...
> Lou wrote:
>>>This could be an interesting thread. There's a lot to this subject that
>>>often gets overlooked.
>>>
>>>Just a thought but the air/oil spring/shockabsorbers used on motorcycle
>>>rear
>>>suspenson might be useful in a trailing link maingear. They are fairly
>>>light and the weight they support would be about the same as a 2-seater
>>>light aircraft.
>>
>>
>> It's funny you should say that. I've wondering about that and possibly
>> the rear or
>> front shocks of the motocross bikes. They take a hell of a beating and
>> seem to stay
>> together.
>> Caveman, it's called an Asso V. Asso is Italian for Ace or thats
>> what I've been told. The picture
>> that the link goes to is red, so that means that somewhere there is a
>> big red asso flying around.
>> Lou
>>
>> http://www.homebuilt.org/kits/littner/champion.html
>
> That looks suspiciously like a Falco!
>
> 1000 pounds gross weight
> Say 3 G's impact loading (on each leg, becaues sometimes that's exactly
> what happens.
>
> I'g go with 3000 pounds leg loading vertical and 1-1/2 G side load (1500
> pounds)
>
> Are you up on landing gear design?
> (I'm guesing no, since you are asking here)
>
> How about this...
> Build it per plans, but with a fixed retract link?
>
>
> Richard
>
> And it's Lamb, Lou.
> We're real sensitave about that the since Geico commercials.
>
> --
It looks suspiciously like a Falco to me as well--despite the reduced power
and weight. But, so do a lot of my own doodle pad sketches and that makes
it hard for me to critisize.

BTW, those Geico commercials are /really/ annoying!

Peter

[Rich S.[_1_]]

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Rich,
> This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Is it a bad idea to
> ask if you still have
> the drawings for the landing gear?. By the way, what the heck is the
> milk stool.

Lou .............

Last question first - "Milk Stool" is a sort of derogatory term for a
tricycle landing gear. I went to the web site and see that you are planning
just that.

Since you are already dealing with Sylvie Littner, I might suggest the most
ethical thing to do would be to give her a call and see if she'll run off a
copy of the Emeraude landing gear plans (one sheet) and sell them to you at
a reasonable cost. Failing that, I do have my copy of the gear plans and
could figure out some way for you to get the necessary specs. Mine are from
a source that is out of business and are not from the current model plans
which Littner sell.

The bugaboo here is that the Emeraude has a conventional gear. (two mains &
a tailwheel) You'd be venturing into unknown territory to adapt the design
to a tri-wheel configuration. I believe Falconar
http://www.falconaravia.com/ sells plans for a tri-gear Emeraude
modification which may contain all the info you need.

Another possibility which comes to mind is that Sylvie has (or recently had)
a few oleo struts which were nose gear struts from Aero Commander Darters.
They were stored in her basement shower room and she badly wanted to sell
them and get them out of there. A fellow in Pittsburgh used two of them as
main gear legs on his Emeraude and they were as light as my non-oleo legs.
His biggest problem was machining a bevel piece to fit between the strut and
the fork, so the wheel was 90 deg. to the ground instead of at the dihedral
angle.

So, there are some options for you. Give those folks a call and see what
they suggest.

Rich S.

[Lou]

On May 13, 3:16 pm, "Rich S." >
wrote:
> "Lou" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Hi Rich,
> > This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Is it a bad idea to
> > ask if you still have
> > the drawings for the landing gear?. By the way, what the heck is the
> > milk stool.
>
> Lou .............
>
> Last question first - "Milk Stool" is a sort of derogatory term for a
> tricycle landing gear. I went to the web site and see that you are planning
> just that.
>
> Since you are already dealing with Sylvie Littner, I might suggest the most
> ethical thing to do would be to give her a call and see if she'll run off a
> copy of the Emeraude landing gear plans (one sheet) and sell them to you at
> a reasonable cost. Failing that, I do have my copy of the gear plans and
> could figure out some way for you to get the necessary specs. Mine are from
> a source that is out of business and are not from the current model plans
> which Littner sell.
>
> The bugaboo here is that the Emeraude has a conventional gear. (two mains &
> a tailwheel) You'd be venturing into unknown territory to adapt the design
> to a tri-wheel configuration. I believe Falconarhttp://www.falconaravia.com/sells plans for a tri-gear Emeraude
> modification which may contain all the info you need.
>
> Another possibility which comes to mind is that Sylvie has (or recently had)
> a few oleo struts which were nose gear struts from Aero Commander Darters.
> They were stored in her basement shower room and she badly wanted to sell
> them and get them out of there. A fellow in Pittsburgh used two of them as
> main gear legs on his Emeraude and they were as light as my non-oleo legs.
> His biggest problem was machining a bevel piece to fit between the strut and
> the fork, so the wheel was 90 deg. to the ground instead of at the dihedral
> angle.
>
> So, there are some options for you. Give those folks a call and see what
> they suggest.
>
> Rich S.

How about that, I learn something new every day. Actually, I've asked
Sylvia about a set of
landing gear plans and she offered to sell me a set for about $400,
and she would through
in the whole set of plans.. I do remember her selling the struts and
if I remember correctly
she wanted a pretty penny for them.
I've got an idea of how I want to do them, what I need most of all
is the correct type of materials,
(steel Aluminum 7073, 6061) and thickness that I can count on. Getting
springs and struts to do what
I want isn't exactly rocket science. A drawing always helps, so yes, I
love to have one, but the more
important information is the kind, type and thickness of the
materials.
Lou