Berkut Kit

[dpaton]

Morphheus.....the p2p program, Lawrence Fishburne from the Matrix, or the Greek god of dreams?

 

I like all 3 by the way.

[tonyslongez]

O.k. Here are the final pics for the spar face close out. Next step is to install the spar. Here we gooooo!

 

Pic 1) Here is the flox on theT-Tapes

 

Pic 2) O.K. Once the 2 plys of bid on the back side of the spar face where semicured. I flipped the spar face back over right side up. Now I place the spar face into the spar, allowing the semicured bid to lap up onto the bottom and top spar caps.

 

Pic 3) Here you can see that the bid has been knife trimmed and the spar face has been weighted down with scrap aluminum.

 

Pic 4) I wanted to make Damn sure that I have a good bond between the spar face layup and the spar. What I did here was peel away the bid from the spar cap and inserted wet flox. This was done all the way down the spar on both sides.

 

Pic 5) This is the flox joint that fills the gap between the spar face edge and the spar cap.

[tonyslongez]

Pic 6) Here I'm stippling two plys of bid on the front of the spar face. this is to be a very wet layup. per plans. It sucks becasue the MGS is so expensive and I used quite a bit on the spar face.

 

Pic 7) Here is the two plys of bid partially cured and ready for knife trimming.

 

Pic 8) O.K. all done Knife trimmed and ready for nine G's:thumbsup:

[tonyslongez]

Dave

 

It's a toss up between fishburne and the greek god. Lawrence did have some cool glasses:cool:

 

Tony

[tonyslongez]

I have a question for all that have been following along here. I may have a very unique opportunity to purchase the new all billet aluminum Berkut upper gear legs, trunions, A , and H arms and actuators for those of you who want drybread gear. This offer would be for a very limited production run. I will have pics of the gear for my Berkut next week. the new Berkut gear are good for a 3400lbs gross weight airplane with a safety factor of 2. The upper gear are CNC machined out of 7075 billet with stainless bushings. the A and H arms are billet as well. . These gear are not cheap, but if you have the means. I highly recommend grabbing a pair. This post is purely for getting an idea if there is a need for the gear. Also would anyone be interested in a pre-molded berkut nose with bulkheads as a retrofit for the long Ez? These are really good looking retrofits for the Long Ez's. All orders will have to be paid in full for the landing gear and noses. (if there is enough interest)

 

Tony

[Lynn Erickson]

I have a question for all that have been following along here. I may have a very unique opportunity to purchase the new all billet aluminum Berkut upper gear legs, trunions, A , and H arms and actuators for those of you who want drybread gear. This offer would be for a very limited production run. I will have pics of the gear for my Berkut next week. the new Berkut gear are good for a 3400lbs gross weight airplane with a safety factor of 2. The upper gear are CNC machined out of 7075 billet with stainless bushings. the A and H arms are billet as well. . These gear are not cheap, but if you have the means. I highly recommend grabbing a pair. This post is purely for getting an idea if there is a need for the gear. Also would anyone be interested in a pre-molded berkut nose with bulkheads as a retrofit for the long Ez? These are really good looking retrofits for the Long Ez's. All orders will have to be paid in full for the landing gear and noses. (if there is enough interest)

 

Tony

I don't under stand what berkut parts have to do with drybread gear. they are of the same concept but the parts are very different. the drybread gear is made to fit in a long eze without changing the back seat. it has a single actuator placed under the back seat floor and the arms that raise the gear are all one piece with the gear leg. it is the same as Velo gear. the berkut gear will not fit in a long or cozy without taking up 12" of the back seat area and loosing about 8 gallons of fuel on each side. the berkut gear is a good system. my gear is a one off of the berkut/ Shirl Dicky design with over 1000 landings. I have no back seat so the space it takes up is not a problem. it is a lot more exposed then the Drybread gear and that make it easier to work on. the strake tanks are extended inboard to make up the 8 gallons lost where the wheel wells that extend into the strakes

[tonyslongez]

Lynn

 

You are correct. What I meant to say was Shirl Dicky. It was really late, and I must have been hungry:D . My thought was not a gear retrofit for existing Long EZ's but rather for new construction. Now the nose on the other hand can certainly be grafted onto an existing Long Ez. BTW this is just to see if anyone wants a pair of Berkut Gear. It's no skin off of my back if there's no interest for them, It's just an opportunity that has presented itself that I wanted to extend to the group. just trying to be generous.

 

Tony

[Richard Schubert]

Maybe you should post this in the E-racer section, I think there are several people there looking for gear. (Me included! )

[tonyslongez]

Maybe you should post this in the E-racer section, I think there are several people there looking for gear. (Me included! )

O.K. I'll do that.

 

Tony

[Lynn Erickson]

O.K. I'll do that.

 

Tony

I get asked a lot about the gear and there are builder that do need the gear to complete there project. let us know about what the cost will be and give the idea some time to get the word spread and I think there will be more then you may think that will want the parts.

[Richard Riley]

I have a question for all that have been following along here. I may have a very unique opportunity to purchase the new all billet aluminum Berkut upper gear legs, trunions, A , and H arms and actuators for those of you who want drybread gear. This offer would be for a very limited production run. I will have pics of the gear for my Berkut next week. the new Berkut gear are good for a 3400lbs gross weight airplane with a safety factor of 2. The upper gear are CNC machined out of 7075 billet with stainless bushings. the A and H arms are billet as well. . These gear are not cheap, but if you have the means. I highly recommend grabbing a pair. This post is purely for getting an idea if there is a need for the gear. Also would anyone be interested in a pre-molded berkut nose with bulkheads as a retrofit for the long Ez? These are really good looking retrofits for the Long Ez's. All orders will have to be paid in full for the landing gear and noses. (if there is enough interest)

 

Tony

Tony -

 

1) Are you doing the "T" arms (that bolt to the H arms?)

 

2) Are you doing the pivot trunions?

 

3) Are you getting rid of the lightening pockets in the gear upper end? And are you aware of Dave's mod to the cast uppers that involved welding heavy plate to tie the two pivot arms together?

[tonyslongez]

I get asked a lot about the gear and there are builder that do need the gear to complete there project. let us know about what the cost will be and give the idea some time to get the word spread and I think there will be more then you may think that will want the parts.

Lynn

 

Time is of the essence. I don't know how long this opportunity will be available to us. I think there are some areas of the gear that may be cost prohibitive. For instance, The gear legs are now solid carbon fiber pre-preg. Very exspensive. I was thinking Robbie Grove could cut a set of aluminum legs to fit the uppers. This would also save money, by eliminating the lower talon. So you would need the upper gear legs, trunions, A and H arms, actuator arm, actuators, and hydraulic pump. I'll try to get a cost for both aluminum and carbon legs.

 

1) Are you doing the "T" arms (that bolt to the H arms?)

 

2) Are you doing the pivot trunions?

 

3) Are you getting rid of the lightening pockets in the gear upper end? And are you aware of Dave's mod to the cast uppers that involved welding heavy plate to tie the two pivot arms together?

Richard

 

All of the issues with the older style Berkut gear have been fixed. The gear that you have on your Berkut are cast aluminum. the new gear are all billet. including the upper gear leg and talons, A, and H arms, and the actuator arm. The trunions are billet as well.

 

 

When you see these gear you'll want a pair. They are beautiful.

 

Tony

[Richard Riley]

The A, H, T and trunions on mine were always 6061 billet - they were from the time prior to the cast parts. I made my own legs, used 7475 for the upper, with all the lightening pockets eliminated and the diagonal put back in, and went up to 7/16 pivot bolts. They're heavier than the old ones, but after John Danials broke his I didn't want them to be marginal.

 

Since I was exiled, I haven't been privy to ongoing development and had to roll my own.

[Lynn Erickson]

Lynn

 

Time is of the essence. I don't know how long this opportunity will be available to us. I think there are some areas of the gear that may be cost prohibitive. For instance, The gear legs are now solid carbon fiber pre-preg. Very exspensive. I was thinking Robbie Grove could cut a set of aluminum legs to fit the uppers. This would also save money, by eliminating the lower talon. So you would need the upper gear legs, trunions, A and H arms, actuator arm, actuators, and hydraulic pump. I'll try to get a cost for both aluminum and carbon legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you use Grove gear why do you need the upper trunion? just bend like the original gear legs and drill the end for the pivot. can also be drilled for the brake line.

The newest Berkut legs were made with a flat piece of G10 as a center core with carbon on both sides. the flat gear leg is clamped to the trunion and wheel spindle casting. like the nose strut

[tonyslongez]

If you use Grove gear why do you need the upper trunion? just bend like the original gear legs and drill the end for the pivot. can also be drilled for the brake line.

The newest Berkut legs were made with a flat piece of G10 as a center core with carbon on both sides. the flat gear leg is clamped to the trunion and wheel spindle casting. like the nose strut

Lynn

 

The trunions as I recall are the pieces that attach to the MG-30's bulkheads. The trunions house the kp-8 bearings which the upper gear leg pivot. I don't think you can just bend the aluminum gear leg to form an upper. The new upper gear legs are far more heavy duty than the aluminum gear leg itself as an upper. The newest berkut gear legs no longer use G10 stock for the core. The gear legs are solid carbon fiber. The gear legs where never clamped to the upper gear and lower talon they are potted in ly505 resin. which is now no longer used either. The new gear are rapped in fiberglass at the top of the leg and autoclaved then machined to the proper dimension. the gear are then pressed and bolted into the upper gear legs.

 

Tony

[Lynn Erickson]

Lynn

 

The trunions as I recall are the pieces that attach to the MG-30's bulkheads. The trunions house the kp-8 bearings which the upper gear leg pivot. I don't think you can just bend the aluminum gear leg to form an upper. The new upper gear legs are far more heavy duty than the aluminum gear leg itself as an upper. The newest berkut gear legs no longer use G10 stock for the core. The gear legs are solid carbon fiber. The gear legs where never clamped to the upper gear and lower talon they are potted in ly505 resin. which is now no longer used either. The new gear are rapped in fiberglass at the top of the leg and autoclaved then machined to the proper dimension. the gear are then pressed and bolted into the upper gear legs.

 

Tony

I might of confused some of the terms, here are some of the pics I can find right now

[tonyslongez]

Lynn

 

It looks like to me that in the first picture that would be considered the trunions.

The second pic might be considered the A, and H arms.

 

here are some drawings of the older style Berkut gear. The trunions are represented in blue. The embossments retain the KP-8 bearings

 

Tony

[Lynn Erickson]

Lynn

 

It looks like to me that in the first picture that would be considered the trunions.

The second pic might be considered the A, and H arms.

 

here are some drawings of the older style Berkut gear. The trunions are represented in blue. The embossments retain the KP-8 bearings

 

Tony

looks a bit over kill, why does it need to be so intricate I used 1/4" thick angles, the same thing the long eze uses to support the gear. the load is mostly down on the trunions and most of the load is up into the longeron area. the bearings are 3/8" spherical bearings mounted in the gear leg. the h and a links have solid brass bushings on 3/8" AN bolts. the upper part of the gear leg shown as casting in your drawing could be made all on piece with the lower gear leg. mine is all carbon but could be made as one piece aluminum from Grove. there is a one off canard at chino with this type gear. and there is an eracer at Hemet that is mounting this type after an off field landing took out his original glass gear. the gear leg in the pic is for a KR 2. the size material would be a bit larger to support the berkut

[tonyslongez]

looks a bit over kill, why does it need to be so intricate I used 1/4" thick angles, the same thing the long eze uses to support the gear. the load is mostly down on the trunions and most of the load is up into the longeron area. the bearings are 3/8" spherical bearings mounted in the gear leg. the h and a links have solid brass bushings on 3/8" AN bolts. the upper part of the gear leg shown as casting in your drawing could be made all on piece with the lower gear leg. mine is all carbon but could be made as one piece aluminum from Grove. there is a one off canard at chino with this type gear. and there is an eracer at Hemet that is mounting this type after an off field landing took out his original glass gear. the gear leg in the pic is for a KR 2. the size material would be a bit larger to support the berkut

Lynn

 

I don't know why the gear are the way they are. I think it has to do with the 3400lb ATOG. I believe there was an issue with gear creeping, with the older style all carbon leg. From what I remember talking with Dave that's why we now have aluminum uppers and lowers. As far as the trunions they are basically 1/4 thick only they house that KP-8 bearing. I personally like the bushing idea, but that is not how the Berkut gear are set up. send me some pics of your gear I would love to see them.

 

Tony

[Jack Morrison]

Tony

 

My E Racer has the full carbon legs with the Berkut lower talons on. I installed the lower talons because I pulled into my hanger a few years ago and my right main had about 15o of negative camber, the lower axle bolts were almost pulled through the leg caused from heat. I made my trunions from 1/4 in angle with self aligning 3/8 bearings.

 

Jack

E Racer113

[tonyslongez]

I made my trunions from 1/4 in angle with self aligning 3/8 bearings.

Jack

 

That sounds like it would work.

 

 

Today I was busy with layups. I had to remove the engine mounts which where only super glued in place. here are the pics.

 

 

Pic 1) This is two plys of bid on the lower cowling mount. These plys where removed when I had to remove the firewall when I took the spar out to fix it.

 

Pic 2) This is the bottom of the rear roll over structure. I have to remove these old plys of glass. I had to cut thru them to seperate the roll over structure to install the new firewall.

 

Pic 3) This is the lower front side of the firewall with two plys of bid

 

 

Pic 4) I don't recall posting a picture of the finished spar close out. Here it is.

 

 

 

Tony

[Lynn Erickson]

Lynn

 

I don't know why the gear are the way they are. I think it has to do with the 3400lb ATOG. I believe there was an issue with gear creeping, with the older style all carbon leg. From what I remember talking with Dave that's why we now have aluminum uppers and lowers. As far as the trunions they are basically 1/4 thick only they house that KP-8 bearing. I personally like the bushing idea, but that is not how the Berkut gear are set up. send me some pics of your gear I would love to see them.

 

Tony

The reason they went to the castings was because the gear legs were splitting and the upper pivot and the axle bolt holes. the gear was made of uni carbon with no cross fibers and very little bid wrapping. mine are made of uni carbon that is layed up with a 10 degree crossing fiber every other ply and rapped with 10 plys of glass bid. I used the KP-8 bearing at first but two cracked. One of them cracked and the balls came out. they are control arm bearings and are not rated for the load. I switched to the plain spherical bearings rated at 9000 lbs and they have been fine.

[Lynn Erickson]

Lynn

 

I don't know why the gear are the way they are. I think it has to do with the 3400lb ATOG. I believe there was an issue with gear creeping, with the older style all carbon leg. From what I remember talking with Dave that's why we now have aluminum uppers and lowers. As far as the trunions they are basically 1/4 thick only they house that KP-8 bearing. I personally like the bushing idea, but that is not how the Berkut gear are set up. send me some pics of your gear I would love to see them.

 

Tony

The reason they went to the castings was because the gear legs were splitting and the upper pivot and the axle bolt holes. the gear was made of uni carbon with no cross fibers and very little bid wrapping. mine are made of uni carbon that is layed up with a 10 degree crossing fiber every other ply and rapped with 10 plys of glass bid

[tonyslongez]

I had a little time left tonight before I called it a night. I started the layup on the lower engine mounts. This is not the easiest layup to follow in the plans. There isn't alot of diagrams to go with the layup sequence. I carefully read and re-read this section. In case anyone trys this layup at least you'll have some pics to go by. Here we go!

 

Pic 1) The first thing you have to do is layup six plys of bid 9x40 on the bias

 

Pic 2) After the six plys are wet out. Cover the layup with aluminum foil. Mark off (6) 6x8in sections. Cut the sections into 6 rectangles

 

Pic 3) Cut a 3in slot right down the middle of each rectangle.

 

Pic 4) This is where the plans are a bit confusing but once you get it, it's not to bad. The first thing you have to do is bend the rectangle into a 90deg angle. like so.

 

Pic 5) The next bend is perpendicular to the first bend.

[tonyslongez]

Pic 6) I know it's hard to see but the next bend is the overlapping of the two opposing flaps of glass onto the firewall. So what's happening is, six plys lap onto the fuselage, six plys lap onto the engine mount, and twelve plys lap onto the firewall.

 

Pic 7) This is an ugly picture the flox was very difficult to handle due to the crampped quarters of the fuse. I'm like a baby rhino trying to handle a popsicle stick not an easy thing to do. My horn gets caught on everything.

anyway, once the first ply of glass is put in place, more flox is added to the opposite side for the next layup.

 

Pic 8) This is the upper outboard engine mount. You can see how the glass is applied. The first tab of glass is lapped onto the firewall while the other is held out of the way.

 

Pic 9) Once the glass is in place. Peel the aluminum away exposing the backside of the fiberglass.

 

Pic 10) Now we lapp the opposing tab onto the firewall. this will add up to be 12 plys of glass. On the inside of the engine mounts the total lapp onto the firewall is 24 plys.

 

 

More to come tomorrow. Stay tuned.

 

Tony