Need Feedback for Gear Leg Repair

[kwiatkma]

Another Long Story short :-\, gear leg overheated (melted at the point the aluminum heat shield was RTVed on.) The brake disk was almost touching the aluminum shield (about 1/16" clearance). The space used to be about 1/2"+ gear leg is definitely distorted.

 

I've attached pictures after all has been removed(axel and such)

 

OK how about a bow gear leg that got over heated? What would be the recommended procedure for the fix? Heat, reshape, rewrap with bi direction glass wrap, done? Or cut off the distorted part and repair by splicing on a new piece, which I've seen explained in multiple locations?

 

[steve]

if it were mine i think i would try a fix, at first glance I'd try heat and shape it back, then id drill in a 12" or so long bar and flox it in so the part would be stronger, then re-drill per plans on the axle and 2 way bid over all

 

with that said (Marc is pushing me) i will have a lot of cash in my bird and 2 grand and two weeks work mite be the way to go on this one

all new and just say......my first lost is my best lost ! the fix may work but who knows, down the road a year or so and you come in on one wing tip and whats left of your Cato. just the tow bill home will be over the price of a new

gear. best of luck with this one:sad:

[Cozy1200]

Velocity makes a "bootie" for their gear bows. You may be able make it work on yours.

[kwiatkma]

dmchaplin,

 

you don't happen to have more info on that...web link or something else you can point me too. I did some googling and didn't come up with anything.

[emteeoh]

check in the velocity builder's forum (tvbf.org) or just call velocity and ask about it. There's some installation photos on velocityXL.com wiki

 

Velocity's website is still being revamped after the buyout, so the online store is missing lots of stuff.

[Kent Ashton]

If you decide to cut the leg, there's an article in the January 2001 Central States Newsletter describing how one fellow did it.

 

If it were mine, I think I'd first try heating the strut and bending it back to shape. I couldn't find an example on the web but I think others have done that when the strut was not too distorted. I suspect the outside of the strut is probably now in compression and the strands of glass are wrinkled on the outside and need to be straightened out. I would try to heat the strut exactly the same way the brake disk heated it--directing heat to the outboard side of the strut--and bend it back. You might rig up a stove-top element to supply radiant heat to the strut and attach some sort of lever to pull the strut back in position. I'd try to lever it back using the cooler inside of the strut as a fulcrum. I would not get the strut much hotter than the brake disk did and figure out a way to apply as much force as the weight of the airplane did in distorting the strut. Perhaps a sort of gear-puller type device mounted on the inside of the strut.

 

You might get lucky.

-Kent

[RGlos]

I think I would agree with Kent on this one. I might add that you make a template of the outside curve of the other gear leg. That way you have a profile on how much to bend it.

 

This does not look like it bent that much, but I'm no expert on bent gear legs.