oleo struts?
Glad I could help, bipe. I have my own copy of Giant Steps and even after all these years, I STILL pick it up and re-read some of the articles.
I would additionally like to offer a little Fairchild story of my own.
Many years ago (early 80's?), I bought the 1/4 scale Fairchild 22 kit from Tower Hobbies. It was probably one of the last kits made by Simcoe/Orline before they closed the doors. Tower was selling off the last of the kits they had in stock at a discount.
I built it and loved it to death and still would like to build another, perhaps the Ikon kit, but haven't gotten around to it.
I lost my Orline Fairchild 22 on it's 3rd flight, I'm reasonably sure, because of a basic design flaw rather than my building expertise.
As you know, several wires that attach to the wings, and landing gear wires, all come together at what looks like a bullet. It was a chunk of rounded steel that all those wires were silver-soldered to.
I think the vibration of the gas engine was more than the design could handle, and one of the critical wing wires simply broke about a quarter of an inch from where it was welded into the bullet. If you've ever gone dove hunting, you have an idea of how quick the Fairchild folded up into a ball and hit the dirt. A real heartbreaker. (Probably for doves, too <g>)
That might be an area you will want to pay particular attention to in your Fairchild 22. What really annoyed me was how much time I had spent aligning all those wires so that the wing ended up properly aligned.
I remember thinking at the time how clever I thought the oleo struts were designed in the kit what with the springs and stops etc. all supplied in the kit. They worked great but didn't do much to soften the final impact.
Highflight