Paul's RV-9A one-day log view
9/8/2004
8 hours: Gear downYesterday I bought a tire-inflator attachment for the air compressor. Can't let a new tool go unused:
After an hour of splashing talcum powder around, I have two complete wheels and tires. There wasn't much tricky about it, except that the innertubes came with some nuts and bolts on the valve stem that I could not figure out what to do with. After some online reading (and an hour's worth of debugging my flaky DSL line), I found that they are not used with these types of wheels so I filed them in the trash can.
Data sticker for my records
You need lots of these spacers to mount the fairing assembly. Slow going, mounting each in the drill press, each side, remove, measure, repeat...
Brake assemblies opened up.
I had to remove all the powdercoat from the mounting tube in order to allow the flange to pass over it. (scotchbrite wheel)
The main points to realize about the orientation of things are:
- Mounting tube on first, then Cleveland flange, then hex-head bolt
- Extensions on Cleveland flange point inboard
- Spacers on inboard side, all nuts on inboard side
- Don't forget axle spacers on each side of tire (U-810 I think?)
Oh, also, I had to use the scotchbrite pad on the axle a fair bit -- not to allow the mount tube to go on as the manual suggests, but to get the wheel on!
Corrosion control: lots of exposed steel out here and in a damp place. I slathered some lubriplate (light grease) around, as I have nothing better in the shop at the moment.
Initial mount of wheel...
I'm not sure if I've got this right, but the brake assembly "floats" on the two rods, held only by the other side of the brake caliper. The manual says to bolt on the mechanism, which sounds a little more secure. I'll have to check on this...
(skip forward several more hours of greasy, sweaty work...100+ in the garage today)
What, no sawhorses?
Yes, it is finally rolling on the landing gear.
The on-wheels height is pretty similar to the standard sawhorse height, so it can easily go back on the sawhorses as needed. In fact you'll want to do that before boarding, I think you could tip it forward if you hopped in now. Lifting the tail only takes a few pounds of force.
Great to be able to move this thing around finally. It glides around with no effort at all.
I've put this thing on it's wheels much earlier than instructed, but after a full day's effort I think it's already been worth it. Now I can easily move the fuselage to do the empennage attach, and reconfigure the shop to get the wings finished. All without worrying about dropping or tipping it over, and without summoning the two helpers you need to move it at this point...
