Hinging wheel doors
 

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the bes way to get a tight fit and allow a 90* opening for the wheel doors on my P-51. I am pretty sure I can ge them to fall open with gravity and use a cable pull system to close them, but other than a piano hinge, I cant think of any other type of hinge I can use that would look right.

I am planning to skin the wing tomorrow and will then have a good idea of how to actually make the doors, and they will be pretty thin, but the area the hing will be I can make thicker since it will be in the center section of the wing and no obstructions, I have about 3/8" of room between W1 and the basswood blocks I glued in for the doors. Would CA hinges work for this if I install them so the hinge is at a 90* to each other when closed?<br type="_moz" />

RE: Hinging wheel doors
 

These are popular with jet flyers for gear doors:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXES27&P=0

You will have to firmly hold gear doors in the up & down position, not just let
them fall because the slipstream & propwash will have them flapping.
Drive them with a servo or air ram & don't forget they have to open/close
at the correct time.

Lots of guys use a gear door sequencer to achieve that:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCJE1&P=7

John.

RE: Hinging wheel doors
 

A bolt of small diameter and two nuts make a great hinge, because they allow the circular movement, but avoid any undesired translation movement along the hinge.

The bolt presents enough surface onto which glue the thin door.

Most of full scale airplanes link the door to the gear, so it is locked in two positions, just like the gear.

RE: Hinging wheel doors
 

I have the gear sequencer, since the P-51 wheel doors are closed whether the gear is up or down when the engine is running. I didn't think about the slip stream though, so back to the drawing board for the linkages. <div>
</div><div>Those hinges may work for this, but I need to measure first, the base is 5/8", and the kit I have is 1/7th scale. They may be too big, but it give me ideas on how I cam make my own hinges. </div>

RE: Hinging wheel doors
 

Once upon a time an outfit called Sonictronics made a whole series of hinges, with and without control horns, for just that purpose. You might check it out.

Les

RE: Hinging wheel doors
 

Yes they do! Similar to the Tower ones, but nylon and have a hole for the linkage. Something like that should work just fine. I will dig further to find out how big they are.
<br type="_moz" />