zenairplane

My Extra 300LX arrived yesterday in perfect condition from the brown truck. Mine is red, white and blue and is beautiful as my wife said. I almost bought the GP PW Extra and I am so glad I saved a little more money and went with the Wild Hare. I have a BME 50 to mount in front.

I put it together last night and took it out to the driveway for the big test. Would it fit in my Dodge Intrepid? Well the good news is that if I stick it in nose first from the trunk it will fit fine with the Horizontal stabilizers and rudder attached and the rear seats down but this is without the landing gear attached. Has anyone set up their plane so that it is easy to remove the gear for transport?

I would appreciate any advice and even a photo if possible. Thanks.

MK

scottfl78

you could probably use 4 1/20 nuts and bolts so you could take them off..

rctom

I've done it on a larger plane.

I just put longer screws through from the inside and nuts on the outside holding them in.

Then I just put the landing gear on and held it with wing nuts. You can spin them off in about 3 seconds and pull the gear leaving the exposed screws securely in place.

TF

Aerohead

My Feedback: (37)

How about a reinforcement plate on the inside with 1/4-20 blind nuts and nylon bolts with washers on the bottom?

mstroh3961

My Feedback: (4)

The landing gear screws go through the bottom of the fuse and aluminum L brackets inside the fuse. I think a block of light ply with blind nuts could be added to the top of the aluminum L bracket, and secured with a small amount of epoxy goop or double sided tape.

Then you could run the bolts in from the bottom.

scottfl78

With all these ideas I guess your answer is yes.. You are limited to your imagination.. IMO Nylon bolts are never a bad idea on langing gear if the plane is light enough, because they will shear clean off on an emergency landing instead of ripping out the belly of your plane..

zenairplane

Great ideas Gentlemen. I will start messing around with it this weekend.

I had thought of wing nuts but my fear was that they would vibrate loose but it would be very easy to check them after each flight.

Thanks.

MK

GaryM

My Feedback: (14)

Find you some 1/8" thick aluminum angle. 3/4 x 3/4 or 1 x 1, whatever is handy. Cut you two pieces about 1 1/4 inches long. They need to be short enough they will fit in side the current aluminum angle allready in the fuse. They will also need to clear the small bolts holding that angle to the motor box sides. Mark the current holes locations and drill small enough that you can now tap threads into the new aluminum brackets. Now take a single 6-32 or similar size bolt and attach your new brackets to the upright motor box side.

You now have the convienence of being able to remove the gear without having to put a wrench inside the fuse or even taking the hatch cover off. If you trim away any unnecessary needed area of the new brackets you will get them down to where they weigh less than the flat washers and steel nuts that would have been used in the conventional method.

This also helps distribute the load even better than the light weight aluminum that is already there. I would send you a pic but my PC at home is on the blink. If you need a photo I will send you one tomorrow.

Gary M

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

You want to save a little weight wherever you can. The 28% gear mounting plate requires no additional reinforcement. Using the method that Tom supplied will be the easiest in the long run. There will obviously be the inconvience of working with the nuts and bolts, but if the bolts are placed in a manner that the heads remain in the fuselage with the bolt shaft exiting the fuse, access will be easier. The wing nuts are a good idea.

rctom

Ifyou worry about the wing nuts coming loose just pull a rubber band around the perimiter of the 4 nuts.

TF

GaryM

My Feedback: (14)

I am not implying the current aluminum is week. He asked for a fast way to remove the gear.
The bracket, socket head and t-nut weigh a grand total of 11gms X 2 of them equals 22 gms.
The four flat washers and four nylon inserted steel locking nuts which are eliminated weigh 11gms, net gain of 11gms. Not much weight gain for the conveinence of just using a ball driver under the bottom of the fuse to remove the gear. MK, I will email you a photo of the bracket so you can decide if it is something you want to use.

Gary M

GaryM

My Feedback: (14)

First time at posting pics so hope this worked

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Very very nice Gary....yours is a perfect solution.
Thank you, I have archived your fix for future use.
Just brilliant.

manyu

Guys i got an idea..

How about Putting blind nuts from outside the fuselage on the landing gear area. and then tightening the bolts from the inside. One can loctite them so they dont come loose.

Then put the landing gear and putting nuts on them..?

Will this works.?