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elfiero

Member
I'm pretty new around here and still in the dreaming/planning stage, but I was wondering why I can't find any references to titanium landing gear struts in this forum or even on Google? Considering what these kit planes are begining to cost, wouldn't this be a pretty good weight reduction to cost aftermarket part? I mean, if you could lose 10 lbs for about 1000.00 extra when you've already spent 75large, it just seems like it would have merit. Maybe I'm wrong, what do you guys with more experiance think?
Bruce
 
As I remember Titanium is a metal with very little flex qualities and thus would not work for landing gear. In fact the SR 71 high altitude photo plane had many panels made of titanium and this had a very low "G" tolarance at low altitude because of the lack of flex in the surfaces. An option that several certified manufacturers have gone to lighten the gear is to is Alum. No, I'm not a metal expert.
 
Nothing wrong with Ti gear legs, but you're probably not gonna buy a set for an extra $1000.
 
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Titanium flexes ok.

I have a titanium crowbar (yes, really :cool: )and it is at least as flexible, if not more so, than a steel one. I just Googled for "Titanium Landing Gear", and got plenty of hits as well. I have the Grove aluminum gear for my 8, and lost 13 lbs. versus the stock steel gear. I don't know of a vendor making any RV gear legs out of titanium, but I really don't think there's any inherent reason it could not be done.
 
spingy

Bruce,

Actually titanium is about twice as flexible as steel (half the modulus) and makes really good springs. I have titanium gear legs on my Sonex and it is very forgiving. Makes many of my landings look good :D. They are solid 1.125 inch rods with no taper or bends. They are two pieces of raw material. Ti has gotten quite expensive. The two Sonex gear legs are going for $850 right now. You would have to fabricate some sort of axle. It seems like it would be a lot of trouble. One interesing thing about Ti is that is stress corrodes VERY quickly if it comes in contact with cadmium. Therefore you have to use stainless bolts instead of cad plated (typical AN) bolts.

I think it would be easer to go on a diet ;)
 
Ti legs

I have heard some on making Ti gear legs for the RV's. I'm not an engineer, but understand that straight, non-tapered titanium acts about like tapered steel, and that because it wouldn't need the extra machining, it wouldn't be all that much more than what we have now. Making/fitting the axles is the problem area.

Bob Kelly
 
All Titanium gear on my -4!

My -4 has Titanium all around, main and tail. The tail spring is similar to stock but the main legs are very different, they started out as a solid bar and where machined to be a tapered rectangle shape widest at the top just under the mount to narrowest just above the axle, the axle is a welded 4130 unit that is fitted on the bottom of the leg and pinned. Then they put a bend in the legs to make it stand slightly boa legged. I Know the builder of the plane very well but I don?t know how he came up with this or who helped him but I can say it does work very well and is a good bit more forgiving then the standard gear and I bet a good bit lighter also. I think the HR guys use Ti landing gear; at least one I talked to last summer said his where.

Russ
 
All the Harmon Rockets and F1 rockets use Titanium for the main gear. I have almost a thousand hours on these aircraft and the gear works very well.
 
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