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drilling main gear leg
- Thread starter rvamateur
- Start date
douglassmt
Well Known Member
Don't hold me to it...
It's been a while since I did this, and I assume you are referring to when you drill through the gear leg and the gear mount. As I recall, I aligned the holes visually, then with an undersized rod, then slowly drilled with the prescribed sized bit (1/4"?). I used an extra long bit (12"?), which helped with alignment. Since the holes are already predrilled, the distance you are drilling is a good ways, and you are only removing a small amount of material with the final bit size, the holes lined up pretty naturally. I did put some light lithium grease on the mating surfaces to help me insert the gear leg, and that probably helped things move a bit to line up. Hope it helps.
I remember worrying about it too but, as with most stuff, no big deal.
It's been a while since I did this, and I assume you are referring to when you drill through the gear leg and the gear mount. As I recall, I aligned the holes visually, then with an undersized rod, then slowly drilled with the prescribed sized bit (1/4"?). I used an extra long bit (12"?), which helped with alignment. Since the holes are already predrilled, the distance you are drilling is a good ways, and you are only removing a small amount of material with the final bit size, the holes lined up pretty naturally. I did put some light lithium grease on the mating surfaces to help me insert the gear leg, and that probably helped things move a bit to line up. Hope it helps.
I remember worrying about it too but, as with most stuff, no big deal.
Last edited:
I drilled my RV-9A main gear legs and the attach weldment last night.
Getting the leg up all the way into the weldment tube was easy until the lower part of the weldment met up with the powdercoating on the lower section of the gear leg.
The first side I tried to fit together got majorly stuck, and I had to resort to some serious hammering to get the leg out of the weldment. I measured the length of the weldment (10 1/2") and then transferred that to the gear leg. I ended up scraping off almost 1/2 inch of powdercoating on the lower part of the leg where it sits inside the weldment tube. Once this was done the parts fit together much better and I was able to get the holes on the leg and weldment to align easily for drilling.
I used a 7.9mm bit (.3110") and did the final drilling with some cutting oil. Nice snug fit for the AN5 bolt.
Now on to mounting the weldments in the fuselage!
Getting the leg up all the way into the weldment tube was easy until the lower part of the weldment met up with the powdercoating on the lower section of the gear leg.
The first side I tried to fit together got majorly stuck, and I had to resort to some serious hammering to get the leg out of the weldment. I measured the length of the weldment (10 1/2") and then transferred that to the gear leg. I ended up scraping off almost 1/2 inch of powdercoating on the lower part of the leg where it sits inside the weldment tube. Once this was done the parts fit together much better and I was able to get the holes on the leg and weldment to align easily for drilling.
I used a 7.9mm bit (.3110") and did the final drilling with some cutting oil. Nice snug fit for the AN5 bolt.
Now on to mounting the weldments in the fuselage!
pierre smith
Well Known Member
Since when do you have to drill the gear?
When we fitted our -6A legs 5 years ago, all that was needed was to remove some powdercoat to let the leg slide up and tap the bolt in place.
Same deal with a -7A we mounted gear on last year.
?????
When we fitted our -6A legs 5 years ago, all that was needed was to remove some powdercoat to let the leg slide up and tap the bolt in place.
Same deal with a -7A we mounted gear on last year.
?????
w1curtis
Well Known Member
pierre smith
Well Known Member
Thanks, William....
...That clears it up....you're only drilling the lower hole in the weldment, not the gear leg.
Best,
...That clears it up....you're only drilling the lower hole in the weldment, not the gear leg.
Best,
