jaaron01

Well the landing gear rails are in place and epoxied. They are fun to install, as none of my landing gear pieces are drilled to match the template. So I went ahead and just lined up the two braces, and left out the center brace (made of balsa). Once this is all set up and hardened. I've got some 5 ply 1/4 plywood, left over from another project, that I'm going to make the center brace out of, then cut some 3/4 pieces and run along side the 1/4x3/8 basewood. Once all that is epoxied in place, I would think any kinda of landing that would break that, would destroy the plane anyway, reguardless of 1 piece gear or not.

The biggest problem is having the gear seperated (in two pieces) , and nothing in between them acting as a stiffener. A hard landing and they'll fold. I think my plan will take care of this problem. Here's some photos, but the extra bracing hasn't been added yet.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

can u send me a pic of where u put the basswood sticks on f3 that part was a little confusing

jaaron01

Grotesquebass: Look in my pictures showing the landing gear first attached. They go on both sides of the 1/4 x 3/4 balsa brace on F3. Also if you look on a side view of the fuselage plans at the bottom of F3, right about the landing gear plates you'll see them sandwiched in there as well.

Update: Landing gear has been mounted minus the 1/4 balsa plate that goes between the landing gears plates. Instead I made up my own middle brace from 1/4 ply, along with two 1/4 x 3/4 ply rails. I placed them underneath the plate and used 4 blind nuts / 4 addtional 6/32 x 5/8 bolts, to suck everything together once epoxy was applied. So in addition to the Bottom former F3 1/4 x 3/4 balsa brace, which is sandwiched on either side by the 1/4 x 3/8 basswood sticks, then on top of those is this 1/4 ply landing gear rail brace (instead of the balsa intended to go there).

That will total 1/2 inch of ply wood running across the bottom of the landing gear. I'm pretty confident that if that breaks apart on a hard landing, there will probably be bigger items ( engine, fuel tank, wings, etc) laying around on the ground as well like confetti. With that said, I think it would be wise to build a removable cover over the landing gear, instead of sheeting it completely up and not having access to it. Just incase something goes wrong.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

thanks alot man i see it now duhhh lol i am going to do the same thing your doing with your lg and cancel the tnt ones(save me 60 bux) and instead of bolting it on i am going to epoxy sice that whole area gets sheeted

jaaron01

I used the 4 bolts to suck everything together, believe me there's epoxy in there as well.

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

haha cant be too safe huh lol............i am gonna mix plenty of milled fiberglass in there

jaaron01

Grotesquebass : I'll say one thing for your photo's, that's the cleanest, and most comfortable work shop I've ever seen! hah! hah! I'm stuck in a garage.

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

Looking good guys un like the end of the Skins game[&o]

jaaron01

I couldn't resist sitting the wings on there and seeing what she would look like. I've got the front Firewall area completed. Still filling some gaps from the earlier 1/8 gap incident, so that the inside of the cockpit will look nice and finished. Next step is to eat dinner, and place the triangle stock in the stab saddles, and fit/glue the horizontal stab.

I can just see this thing coming in for a landing and those big flaps just a hang'in and the landing lights down and shining. I'll have good dreams tonight.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

lookin good brother, heres my progress fits nicely drilled holes and epoxy is drying

jaaron01

Be sure and put the center piece in as well. They give you 1/4 in x 2 1/2 balsa piece, but I upgraded that to ply as well.

Anyway in the mean time, the Stab is glued on, and I'm done for the evening. I'll let her set till tommorrow and dry.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

o i havent 4got ply here as well

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

now u see why i have 2 weeks to get as much done as i can the wife gets home lol spare bedroom hahah

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

You guys got me up early and building---

*Now for those who have not started their build here is the bottom right wing panel with cap strips applied and ready for the flap and aileron build. Quite frankly I'm enjoying this build and look forward to the challenge of replicating a FACTORY style Stinson finish which the 'Reliants were noted for-'

Bringing it out to the field or perhaps even a club meeting will be a pleasure indeed.[8D]

CrateCruncher

My Feedback: (1)

If the landing gear are not tied together no amount of mounting surface stiffening is going to prevent excessive movement and cracked fairings with such a small surface and so long a moment arm. Here is an inexpensive way to tie the two gear halves together. Bolt two of these made from aluminum to each gear half with two bolts on each leg. They don't have to be this fancy, any piece of scrap aluminum angle will do. Whats important is the flange. That creates the stiffness and prevents rotation of the gear legs. This is known in the truck industry as a "guppy belly tie plate" because it prevents the ladder frame from widening and twisting under excessive loads.

Mike

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

i thought about this as i went to bed last night so today i had the airframers cut me some 1/8" aluminum to bolt between the lg halves am on lunch now and got it done in 10 minutes here are some pics SHES ON HER FEET BOYS

jaaron01

I'm still up in the air, I'm fairly confident my mounting will work, but there's only one way to find out, however; I don't know if I'm willing to pay that price or not is the problem. I'll keep pondering the idea, and see what happens. I've got the Horizontal & Vertical stab mounted to the plane. Working on blending the stringers on either side of the fin down. Also adding the 1/4 x 1/4 balsa to former 8 in between the stingers. I'm just waiting on the glue to dry on the 1/4 triangle stock that re-enforces the fin to dry a little more.

It won't be long till it's time for the true test of building skill. How will the wings line up on the puppy? That is the million dollar question.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

looking good buddy just got my horizontal stab mounted damn this is one sexy bird o and dont mind the mess lol

red1

Hi Crate Cruncher,

Thanks for the tip and for the glue thread.

red1
(aka Don Borton)
AMA IMAA
Waco Brotherhood #72

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

I received the response I was looking forward to,from a successful TopFlite Stinson Reliant builder and flier,who has flown his G-38 powered Gold Edition Stinson Reliant,for several seasons now at our club field. He is an experienced R/C modeler and a great contributor to our R/C club--->the landing gear was constructed per TopFlites instructions he states.

Lets face it, a crash landing is just that a 'crash landing' and when such an event occurs (of course there will be damage...think about it...)

Here is the right wing with the flap and aileron under way. Will not start the fuselage until I receive my "Zap" adhesive order from a mail order source,which slates delivery for this Thursday.

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

i hear ya man if you cant land a plane like this soft you dont know how to fly j/k lol i would just rather be safe then sorry especially with a 2 piece lg that wing is looking good man

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

I appreciate your opinion and continue to enjoy the response this thread has brought forth...


"Building IS NOT a lost art-"

jaaron01

I'm sticking with the two piece gear, with the rienforcements I've added. I looked on the topflite web site FAQ about the landing gear. Here's what they have to say about it:

Stiffening the Gear if Flying Off Unusually Rough Surfaces

The landing gear system on the SR-9 was designed to fail in a manner that would cause minimal damage to the model. It is always a balancing act to design the gear to be strong enough to sustain a hard landing or rough materials, yet weak enough not to cause extensive damage on very hard landings, or crashes.

If your model will be flown from grass runways, or is heavy and in the upper area of the recommended weight range (25 lbs), you may want to strengthen the landing gear. You may also want to strengthen it if you are not known for your smooth landing technique.

This can be done in two ways:

1. If you have not completed sheeting the front of the fuselage, add some 1/4" x 3/8" basswood sticks to the 1/4" ply gear mounts. These sticks should be epoxied between the ply mounts and the floor of the fuselage cabin area. This will transfer some of the landing loads to the main fuselage structure.

2. Install a 1/8" x 2-1/2" x 9-1/2" aluminum plate across the bottom of the landing gear where they bolt to the 1/4" ply mounts. You can bolt it in place using the same bolts holding the gear to the ply mounts.

DO NOT do both of the above. This would cause the gear to be too strong, causing extensive damage on very hard landings.

Jim

Grotesquebass

My Feedback: (16)

got the vertical stab on last night

CrateCruncher

My Feedback: (1)

Jim, your plywood tie-plate is certainly strong enough to substitute for a 2-piece but you haven't yet tied the landing gear into it. If you add two additional bolts on each gear leg that will clamp those 3/4" ply strips on each side your tie plate will absorb the Torque just like a 2-piece gear. Fortunately you still have just enough room to slip a blind nut or nut/washer under the gear mount. Take a look at the diagram I've attached. Sorry for the nerdy engineering diagram but I just can't think of any other way to explain it. Hope this is helpful.
Mike.