treedog

If any 1 has a lathe how much trouble would it be to make 2 of these about 1.5 " long by about 5/16 thick? Kinda looks like a piston rod for a cox. sorry for the unskilled drawing i made it with paint.

Bipe Flyer

Is the end with the hole flat? What material? What's it for?

BMatthews

Looks like an extra large ball joint Kwik Link.....

Does it need a threaded hole in the small end of it?

treedog

Think of it as a DIY shock absorber for mechanical retracts.The round end looks like a beefy wheel collet with a small hole for a set screw.
The long end is a shaft for the wheel

ptulmer

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http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK183&P=M

Use brass tube to shim the hole in the wheel.

treedog

Looks real close pt. Now if i could find a small stiff spring to put above on the wire strut then another collet to stop the spring from sliding up the wire it might absorb most of the shock on hard landings

ptulmer

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Get a strut with a loop in it. The straight struts don't do anything, but the ones with loops at the top of the wire go a long way towards absorbing the harder landings. Depending on the size of the bird we're talking about,... http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXES71&P=M

treedog

I'm agreed on the coil strut pt. That will be great for the lateral stress. Now if i can wrap my mind around a fix for the up and down stress on landing without copying a robo strut ill have it made Also remember I'm trying to get away from a factory made strut but more on the idea of an add on to a mechanical type for not much cash. just a small bag of parts to send with the retracts "DIY" Here's a pic of the wire strut type without the wheel on it.
I'm sure u'all have seen /heard that sickening wood crunching sound of a heavy even light plane landing on plain retracts before. I swear that was why every 1 started adding music to their video's to mask that ugly sound.

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

5/16 is huge! What weight range are you looking at? The coiled struts will absorb that "up and down" stress to a point because the bend backwards or forwards and that moves them up and down. Trying to do more is admirable, but I think you might end up copying the robostruts. It's going to have to be very firm and still travel, so a long spring is necessary. Maybe you meant 5/32 for up to a .40 size airframe? Two spring retainers, two wheel locks (to stop the retainers) and a sleeve might come close to an easy shock absorber. How well it would work... only trying it would tell. (you'd have to cut a piece out of the strut and attach the sleeve to the top)

treedog

Pt 5/16" was a guestimate,but these can be made to fit the plane. And yes i tend to overkill everything but most manufactuers tend to underkill