Nose gear placement
 

If the nose gear is moved back a bit, does it affect the plane in any way? To convert the T-34 to glow, the motor mount is moved back almost 2 inches, which was also where the nose gear attached. I can move the nose gear forward a bit, there is room behind the engine, but not sure how strong a mount I can make for it. Would it still work OK if it was a inch back from the original location? I can attach it with a good strong backing with good clearance from the engine if it will.

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Why not use a combination motor & nose gear mount ? Should not be too hard to do. Max :)

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Moving the nose gear back 2 inches will have a drastic effect on steering. It is possible that it make your take offs and landing very hairy.

Frank

RE: Nose gear placement
 

In that case, maybe a longer nose gear strut and  angle it forward so the wheel sits in the normal spot. Heh a winged Chopper! :D   I just dont want the bracket sitting against the engine were it either affects the flow of air, or worse, melts.

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Is the T-34 set up for either electric OR glow from the manufacturer? If so, then I would hazard a guess that it will be just fine otherwise the manufacture would toss in a warning and alternative method for mounting the nose gear.

What's the main gear width and how forward of the main gear will the new nose gear be? My LT-40 is 14.5" and 11.5".

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Its electric only.  I think I can get the gear within 1/2" of stock, I just need a strong mount for it that doesn't weigh a ton. I need to find my scale and weigh the parts and pack I took off and compare to what I am putting on. I think the magnum is a touch lighter than the OS 52 I was going to put on, and that one came in within an ounce of what was removed. The additional servo and rx pack should counter any extra weight from the build out.

RE: Nose gear placement
 

I think you are going to need to beef up the firewall & maybe the nose area for a glow engine . A lite-ply firewall just won't cut it . I still say use a mount that will take a nose gear or drill a Dave Brown one for the strut . Nothing will melt by using a glow engine .Good luck, Max :)

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Beefed!

RE: Nose gear placement
 

When you shorten the effective wheelbase the most notible effect will be directional instability during takeoff something that is exacerbated by the large fourstroke.

The takeoff problems can be avoided simply by using a racing launch just like the popular warbird pylon racing. Actually various T-34's with vastly over sized four strokes are popular in this type of pylon.

The launch method is not the typical slow throttle up which allows things to get out of hand, instead the caller typically positions the airplane in the t/o position and the pilot runs up the engine to half or as much as full power. The pilot sets full right rudder and postions the elevator where needed. Then and only then the pilot nods for releast to the caller. This is a far safer and easier method to launch any airplane that may have directional problems on takeoff and particularly ones with vastly oversized engines.

Neat project

John;)

RE: Nose gear placement
 

OK! Fixed gear I guess. Try Tower or local hobby shop for DUBRO LXD892 or LXD846. You can also use a Robart fake plastic gear cover for more scale look. Your pictures helped ! Max :)

RE: Nose gear placement
 

<span style="font-family: Arial; ">What I could do is make new mains that bend rearward a 1/2", and the 1/2" set back on the nose gear should equal out. I have seen planes with the nose gear angled forward, but cant recall which one. I'm still working on the platform to mount it to in my head. So far what I have come up with in my minds eye has worked on this mod. Since I used scrap pieces of 1/4" for the mount and just tacked them in place for now, I can adjust the thickness so the spinner to cowl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">clearance</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">is right on. The one thing I noticed, when I lined the</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">engine</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">up with the cowl on the bench, it was right on the money, but when I mounted the firewall on the plane with the motor, its slightly off to the upper right. It may just be that it</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">wasn't</span><span style="font-family: Arial; ">100% clamped to the fuse too, cant fit the cowl on with the clamps in place.</span><div style="font-family: Arial; "></div><div style="font-family: Arial; ">For mounting the nose gear, still trying to come up with a strong but light design. The original was a box that tied the fuse to motor mount together. I included the picture of the original box, the nose gear is at the top. The fuse internal sides stuck out and ply was glued to them, then the motor/gear mount ply notched in to the sides, and a pice on top and bottom notched into the main firewall and motor mount. Pretty strong, took a really hard nose in landing to break it.

So what Im thinking is two pieces of 1/4" ply, or maybe 3/16" to keep the weight down, notched into the 1/4" firewall on either side of the gear mount, the height of the mount, then angled upwards a bit for more strength, and a 1/4" ply backer notched into the front of the side pieces, with a 3/16" floor piece also notched in for rigidity. I think this should be strong enough to take abusive landings. For some odd reason I land tail draggers much smoother than trikes. Then again both trikes I have are really light electrics, this T-34 being one of them. Even with the glow engine it will be light. I will probably need to add some tail weight because of the added plywood, but the Magnum, mount and tank weigh in right about where the ESC, motor and pack weigh. The RX pack and throttle servo may be enough to offset the plywood, but overall the plane will not weigh much more than it did when I first flew it.</div><div style="font-family: Arial; "></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Moving the mains back will affect the aircraft's rotation as it lifts off. The location of the mains is specifically designed point. Moving the front gear back will affect ground pitch stability (increase chances of nose over). Wire gear is designed to resist axial loads. Bending the gear forward will increase any likely bent gear issues


I think the right thing to do is build a motor box with a place to mount the nose gear. I'm sure there are other ways that might work too. Its up to you if you want to experiment. I'm tired of experiments, I just want to fly planes :)

RE: Nose gear placement
 

As noted moving the main gear rearward and further aft of the CG will will increase the force needed to rotate for takeoff and cause takeoff attempts that are characterized by jumping off the ground suddenly and at steep pitch attitudes. This is definately something you do not want to deal with especially with somewhat oversized engines and precisely when there is substancial 'P' factor present which often can result in a snap roll into the ground.


John

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Don't know where I came up with numbers I sent you BUT DUBRO # are 153 & 156 for the nose gear stuff. Sorry , Max [:o]

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Im reusing the nose gear stuff, so no new parts needed, thanks anyways.   As I looked at it again, the nose gear will be back 1/2" from stock, but also 3/8" lower than stock, so with a slight forward bend, I can place the wheel at stock position and height, so the control will remain the same. <div>
</div><div>As it was this plane leaped off the ground after a short roll out, with the gear bent back, I usually bent the gear back from the rough ground during landings, and didn't fix them until I got home, so whether they are straight down, or bent back, its what im used to. :) </div><div>
</div><div>Where I fly, there is corn at either end of the runway, so take offs are steep, as well as landings. If I dont touch down in front of me and go past, I usually have to go around or I will run off the end into the corn.   Happened to me a few weeks ago with my Kadet, had a dead stick and landed down wind, touched down in front of me, but that bugger just kept on rolling into the corn, thankfully it wasn't very tall. </div><div>
</div><div>Then again, if there is wind, I usually dont need much runway to land the T-34, it can land like a helicopter, dead stop and drop.  :D</div>

RE: Nose gear placement
 

Gotcha. I was picturing bending the gear something like parallel to ground. Sounds like you are pretty close though.

RE: Nose gear placement
 

I'll figure it out, the main thing I was concerned about has been answered, and that is what happens if the nose gear is not far enough forward.  Thats the fun of this hobby, figuring things like this out.