Swinging the Gear

Summary:  Discussion about methods for swinging the gear for the Annual Inspection.

Subject: Swinging the Gear
From: "Fred Bonar" <fbonar@
Date: 10/11/09 4:29 PM
To: <Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com>

Hi Group

I am at my first annual and upgrade on 17NT and need to swing the gear. The manual show some sort of jacks the go into the spar roots but from the description not at all obvious how they work. Has anyone used another method or have some for sale. Looking for suggestion and adavise here. I am in southern Cal and maybe someone has/knows access to some.

Fred

Subject: Re: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: Fly10yy@TpnDC6YCE-sWZoKfQJnAGiixRdx06-wdYZp7QuZo-_NTBDFkPdvtR60jXwueB2SXm3nBsz0dcTvY.yahoo.invalid
Date: 10/12/09 6:08 AM
To: Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com

assemble some various size pieces of wood,2x4,2x6,1x6,long enough to fit in the spar opening tight enough so no upward play and long enough to stick out of the root opening.get 2 tripod jacks to fit under the wood
coming out of the root on both sides and jack up.keep the jacks away from the gear so you can jack up.

Subject: RE: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: "Fred Bonar" <fbonar@28mwqT4JTmzGafzc1SV0vSMNYNBsBhigA4HPMbiJEHgG-Br2mQ2vHKcyxGjtz3bOSvMOjMPcIau_Jw75yg.yahoo.invalid>
Date: 10/12/09 7:42 AM
To: <Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com>

Since I have never folded the wings to be able to see inside, does the root extended completely through the fuselage so that the 2X and 1X extend the width of the fuselage, ie the wood be 8 or 10 feet long? Any pictures of when you did this, sounds simple but the plane is in a remote location and if everything isn’t considered it’s another trip, so I plan for any contingency.

Subject: Re: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: Fly10yy@rxYoS2kqiyNW5EhESfz3TPAKtcSVZcXnn4O2RABd3cE2rpuRYXf-L_Q8jm2zTswlHxBvWuN0mA.yahoo.invalid
Date: 10/12/09 8:55 AM
To: Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com

Does not go all the way through. wood about 3 to 4 feet long on each side,about 2 ft inside and 2 ft outside.it will become apparent when you try.very easy to do jack both sides at same time.the wood sticking out acts as a spar to jack on.take a saw in case of a need to cut on site

Subject: Re: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: Jeffrey Maki <jmaki@JstU0EORSzPUkYzRfuk4s9dgKYfdtiVVHDMQ1SIJO-3rJShiDpEfCRCLqsE8Y7rrytTgq0PPhV6dxwOrrIpP2cc.yahoo.invalid>
Date: 10/12/09 11:56 AM
To: Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com

Hi Fred,

I've never heard of the wood technique - I would be concerned the spar box could crack if the stress were inadvertantly all concentrated at one spot (although it must be strong). Taifun recommends jacking not by the main spar but by the fitting where the small conical pin (the more forward of the two) goes in just in front of the spar box. My ship came with a metal "L" shaped adapter that has the correct size and can be then slid over the barrel of a hydraulic jack. It is tricky to get and position a jack so that the legs do not get in the way of the landing gear moving. Then you need to make sure the tail stays down - takes a good amount of weight - it started to bend my crossbar between the wing dollies, so I had my son sit on the tail boom (would be disaster if it came loose and nose fell). I could send a pic, but not until I go the plane next, and it might be a week or two. Korff may have a drawing. If you can weld, or have access to a welder, it is not hard to build.

I am actually having a friend construct a much fancier version, as it turns out my airport may flood this winter. Similar adapter welded to a large (60") jack with a stable base designed to stay out of the way of the landing gear, and then jack up the plane one cinder block at a time to get it sitting about 3 feet high. Hope that is enough.

I could loan you mine, but at the moment we are using them as templates for the new rig we are building. If you want to wait a few weeks ...

Good luck,

Jeff

Subject: RE: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: "Fred Bonar" <fbonar@kYeiU1NrSyeN40Ohwb37nfASeMHSKDnbGDBX8gwzgk9BBH5OjKqd3gGJ5FCKgUXZzRJO4dk378jfYBtdWmY.yahoo.invalid>
Date: 10/13/09 4:10 PM
To: <Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com>

Found a tripod jack stand detail in the Taifun manual, shows a .884 in dia pin, 3.15 in long on a plate that was 39.5 inches off the ground, the jack stand has a 31.5 in spread I would presume to clear the landing gear. Sound about right? Can get a pin made, maybe a foot long and use an hyd or screw jack on the pin beyond the wing. Would be the same idea as the wood only in steel.

Subject: Re: [Taifun17E] Swinging the Gear
From: Jeffrey Maki <jmaki@BI7EjqIQLIT3p69EGbKdkE-HnRXHQVJt7efMOmbSITWsgavGBoRUs58_gwHBCMWP7Yki_ZKsYn3cbl1g.yahoo.invalid>
Date: 10/13/09 4:42 PM
To: Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com

Keep the pin very short - just long enough to go through the entire fitting (but not long enough to hit the fuel tank) such that lifting point is close to fuselage. Hydraulic jack then works well - just have to position correctly for gear.

Jeff

Subject: swinging the gear
From: "peter_lert_schedule" <pslert@jaP0yOKkNNoZyJ5rpbWRAWZE9J3oUDJUkyAYwpImI1VEQoNCMPRSDALbNPqQedliljbmDRTmOwyD.yahoo.invalid>
Date: 11/8/09 11:05 PM
To: Taifun17E@yahoogroups.com

Hi all--

As mentioned in a different post, I have a set of jack adapters that slide into the wing roots and engage the same bearings that the root rib and spar butt pins normally use. I'm willing to loan them out against a refundable deposit and shipping from and back to northern California. These are way overbuilt--the two of them together weigh close to 100 lbs.

Alternatively (if a bit scary), given the relatively low weight of the ship, one can rent and use a typical "cherry picker" engine hoist--or, better yet, two for more stability. Use heavy nylon straps and attach to the engine mounts _right_at_the_firewall (don't let the straps move forward toward the engine or you can bend the mount). You'll need a way to hold the tail down (heavy weight attached to the tail skeg, or to a cargo strap over the top of the fuselage).

Note that whether you're jacking up the fuselage or hoisting it from above, you want to minimize the weight to be lifted--which means disconnecting the wings from the telescoping tubes (17E only) and setting them aside. And, particularly if you're hoisting from above, you might want to get someone light to sit in the cockpit and crank the gear up and down for you.