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Titanium landing gear legs

Old 01-31-2006, 06:28 PM
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desmobob
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Default Titanium landing gear legs

I have a P-51D built from the Great Planes kit. It's equipped with Dave Brown mechanical retracts. It was my first mechanical retract installation. The way I set them up, they have a slight forward bend in the middle of the leg.

I fly off a gravel runway and sometimes land on a mowed grass runway. The gear legs bend easily, causing the retracts to bind, and causing me to have to bend them back, stressing the retract mount area of the wing.

I've seen titanium gear legs for sale at Central Hobbies. They're quite a bit more expensive than regular music wire struts, but if they hold their shape, they will be well worth the $16.75 cost to me.

Can they be bent in a vice like music wire struts? Will I have any trouble putting the slight bend I need in them?

My only experience with titanium was seeing my brother-in-law demonstrate his new titanium eyeglass frames by twisting them almost into a knot and letting them spring back to perfect original form. Now THAT'S the kind of performance I need from a landing gear strut!

Good flying,
desmobob
Old 01-31-2006, 10:07 PM
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da Rock
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs

Well, I got eyeglass frames like that. Trouble is, you want to bend a "kink" into the wire, yet want it to not bend out of shape. My glasses won't allow that. Turns out that they "can't be fixed" by your average eyeglass place either. Seems that "you can't fix titanium" according to the average eyeglass places around here.

I'm guessing that the titanium gear isn't really very much like the titanium gear legs. But truth is, I got no clue, so.........

I'm waiting for someone who's had experience with those model airplane gear legs to wade into this thread with some real life observations.... just like you are.

(BTW, I wound up fixing my "unfixable" glasses myself. Tell ya what.... 50 years of building models teaches you to fix just about anything.)
Old 02-01-2006, 12:25 AM
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Richard L.
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs


ORIGINAL: desmobob

The gear legs bend easily, causing the retracts to bind, and causing me to have to bend them back, stressing the retract mount area of the wing.
Order the "Super Strut Tool" from Central Hobbies, which would allow you to bend the struts back without stressing the retract mount area of the wing. Central Hobbies no longer list this item on their website, but they still sell it if you phone in and ask.

Titanium struts can't be bend like your ordinary music wire. I tried bending a titanium strut once, and it snapped since Titanium is fairly brittle.
Old 02-02-2006, 06:36 PM
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desmobob
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs


ORIGINAL: Richard L.

Order the "Super Strut Tool" from Central Hobbies, which would allow you to bend the struts back without stressing the retract mount area of the wing. Central Hobbies no longer list this item on their website, but they still sell it if you phone in and ask.
Thanks for the tip. I've heard this tool mentioned before, but have never seen one. Guess I'll have to buy one....


Titanium struts can't be bend like your ordinary music wire. I tried bending a titanium strut once, and it snapped since Titanium is fairly brittle.
So the struts can only be used as supplied; straight? It would seem there must be SOME way to bend them if necessary. Heat?

Good flying,
desmobob
Old 02-05-2006, 09:47 PM
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desmobob
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs


ORIGINAL: desmobob

So the struts can only be used as supplied; straight? It would seem there must be SOME way to bend them if necessary. Heat?

Hmmm... I'm surprised at the lack of responses to this thread. I would have guessed titanium struts would be something a lot of people would be interested in and using by now.

I have to assume that everyone flies from a smoother field than I do. Or is the real fact of the matter that everyone is better at landing than I am?

smooth landings,
desmobob
Old 02-06-2006, 12:20 AM
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Tired Old Man
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs

It was previously noted, correctly, that titanium is not designed to bend. At least very much. It will deflect to a minor degree, but placing bending loads on this metal will cause it to break. It takes quite a bit of load to break the stuff. The metal is usaully made to the required shape, so there is none of the usual heating and bending that can be done with some metals.
Old 02-06-2006, 12:50 AM
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Richard L.
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Default RE: Titanium landing gear legs

I would stick with the regular steel music wire because it can be bent back pretty easily. Once a titanium strut is bent (and set) on a hard landing, it's pretty tough to get it to bend back to its original position.

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