[tx_jayhawk]

I'm in the process of fitting the landing gear weldment, and I cut "the big hole" last night. It appears that the pattern is pretty grossly undersized, and a LOT of material needs to be removed for it to fit. The instructions say a portion of the 704 flange needs removed, but it looks like I will have to remove all the way to one of the rivets (centerline) in one part to get it to fit.

Couldn't find any real good close-ups on the web to see if others have seen the same. Does this sound familiar? I did double-check that I was generally making sense (right weldment, positioned correctly, etc.), but this seemed like a lot of material to remove.

Scott
7A
Fuse

 

[Scott Will]

Your experience seems on par with mine. You're right, the plan shows it undersized but I'd rather start small. If you find it hard to insert/remove the weldments, I removed a few nutplates on the spar flange. Makes the whole process a little easier.

 

[N520TX]

Agreed

I had to remove some of the flange as well - almost all the way to a rivet or two. Wasn't the first person with this issue and I'm sure you won't be the last.

 

[Capflyer]

Just Cut These Over The Weekend

Here's some pics of mine. Took me a long time to enlarge as I went slowly, enlarging the hole only until the weldment fit. They fit great know. Hope I did them right.

Mike R.

 

[robertahegy]

Here is a shot of the right gear leg hole on my 7A. The legs fit very well.

Roberta

 

[tx_jayhawk]

Big Hole

Thanks all for the replies...looks like I am on the right track. It seems like the template Vans includes is well undersized.

 

[Rick_A]

Tool recommendations?

I'm getting ready to do this on my 7A QB. Any recommedations on cutting tools? This is the first BIG hole that I'm cutting.

 

[Davepar]

I used a Dremel with a cutter like this one:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00953068000

Practice on some scrap sheet first. If you slip, it will scratch things up pretty bad. However, once you master this thing it makes shaping interior holes a snap.

(Start by just making a big hole with a Unibit.)

Dave

 

[tx_jayhawk]

drum sanders

I recommend the dremel or other drum sanders. I was going through the sanding drums pretty quick on the dremel, but I found a bigger, beefier version that fits into the die grinder at Wally World. I think it was a black a decker brand (designed for drills), but it works great in a die grinder.

As dave said...you can wallow out most of it with several unibit holes. I then used a dremel cutting disc to roughly trace the outline of the hole (and finished with drum sanders). If you are doing QB, you will want to take off the bracket on the frontside of the 704 spar (it gets in the way).

Scott

 

[Derrell]

I have used the side cutting drill bits in the Dremel with good results. They are made for cutting drywall or paneling, but hold up pretty well cutting sheet alum. Available at HD.

Derrell
7A Finish

 

[Derrell]

I have used the side cutting drill bits in the Dremel with good results. They are made for cutting drywall or paneling, but hold up pretty well cutting sheet alum. Available at HD. Finish up with the sanding drum & scotchbrite wheel.

Derrell
7A Finish

 

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

The Adel Nibbler works well too. Unibit...nibble...dremel....voila!

 

[thallock]

Actually, a hole saw worked pretty good here. I chose a size that came close to one side, then I drilled two holes, one on each side. This gets most of the metal out of the way. Then I finished up with a rotary cutting tool in my electric drill. Wish I had remembered that I bought a set of cheap drum sanders a few months ago. I used them before, and they are real handy for removing metal inside a hole.

Tracy.

 

[wingtime]

carbide cutter

I have a carbide tapered cutter that I use in my die grinder. Cuts and trims the aluminum like butter and leaves a nice clean edge. I used this to cut the step holes and trim the ribs and it worked great. I'll be using it next for the gear hole.