Designing the Landing Gear
The gear I built could
comfortably support up to five pounds. Adjust the number of
laminations to make a lighter or stronger gear. The grid is 1/8".
Scale and print for a different size.
What to Draw
Remember when I said Geometry is useful?
- A Side View provides fore/aft locations.
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A Front View provides leg lengths. (Either the side or front view can provide vertical locations.)
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Draw the side view of the gear.
I didn't need a fuselage side-view to build this model but I
wanted to play around with raking the gear so to get one I
traced around the completed fuselage to see how the gear would look.
The axle centerline is below the leading edge of the wing.
That's usually a safe place for a tail-dragger but it's not the only place
that can be right.
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Draw the front view.
This drawing shows the gear and the form the gear is
molded around. |
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"Unfold" the gear to get an actual pattern.
I used the outer perimeter dimension to create the pattern to ensure the "feet"
weren't too short. By doing this all the inner laminations were
too long and are cut away after the gear is formed and cured. |
Other than the form this is exactly what you do to
make a dural aluminum landing gear pattern. A form
isn't necessary for an aluminum gear.
It doesn't take very long to make an aluminum gear if you have a way to cut
it. I use a
scroll saw, a metal-cutting blade and a liberal amount of oil.
Do not use a blade with reverse teeth to cut metal! Reverse teeth on scroll blades are
to prevent tear-out when cutting wood. Metal-cutting blades do not
have reverse teeth.
The gear is bent using a sheet metal brake or over a
hard, straight edge such as a heavier piece of metal, your workbench, a
vice (with smooth jaws) or whatever you've got.
Be sure the bends are not skewed to the lines where the bends are
supposed to be or you'll end up with a skewed landing gear.
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