skywarrior

Gonzalo
I agree with you the mains are very weak as is the nose wheel construction in my opinion. The slidiing shaft of the main is the same unit plus the add on yoke as the Flash U/c I have in my drawer. Look at the difference between the weights and you can see why they bend and bell out.

SOLUTION is by a set of Behotec ( who also make the original units) Trailing link set for mains and nose wheel.
These are machined from the solid and work extremley well and will sort your problem like they did mine.
I have a set of the originals now in my draw and I suspect they will not move from there even though they are up for sale on the JMA site

Regards
David

Gonzalo38

Thanks David. I will take a look at the Behotec option.

It's a shame that such a nice plane has a badly chosen landing gear.

roydefiant

Agreed, would like better gear but would be happy to pay more for hydraulic struts

roydefiant

Gonzalo38

Nicely done..... beautiful plane.

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Hi David. Which behotec trailing links did you put in your plane? And how did you modify the gear doors? Thanks, Mike

skywarrior

Gonzalo,
I am not sure of the part number, but if you mail Thomas at Behotec he will know which set to give you as he runs the show and they make a trailing link set spcifically for the Tutor.

I did not have to modify the gear doors except I put a small wedge under the noseleg unit to cant it up a couple of mm when closed.

These units are excellent and should have been fitted on the original airplane IMHO.

I am sure there are many who say the originals are fine but then they are probably a lot better flyers ( or at least cross wind landers ) than me !

Regards

David

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Does anyone know if the stock wheels will work with the behotec trailing link struts? I really don't want to end up with a spare set of 4"mains.. Pictues of anyones install?

skywarrior

Hi,
this is what I ended up with due to it being the end of the season and two events were coming up and I played safe.
You have to cut clearance holes for the brake nipples in the strut covers and the better way is to order right angle nipples to replace the originals which were fitted to mine. Preferably solder the brass nipple to the Ali using the special low temp solder available at jet shows usually.
These units work really well and are a proper replacement for the originals .
I am back home Friday and will check for an answer to your question.
Pics 824

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Skywarrior,
I think he was talking about pictures of the mains an how they fit into the existing wheel opening. Also, in the pic's of page 824, I don't see how you steer the nose gear?
Thanks

skywarrior

Hi,
Returned from the away break and as promised pics of the Behotec trailing link mains. The original wheels do not fit the struts as suspected. the brake is completely different as is the hub.You can see from the gear door pic you have to make a clearance hole for the hub nut and the brake nipple if you are supplied with the 90' nipple which sticks out proud ,as they say. Even with a change to the right angled version which clears the door the nut remains an issue.
This is a really good heavyweight built for the job unit and makes the original look a little frail.
Hope this helps.
Note I have removed the leg door at present as theattachment to the leg itself is entirley different using these units. It fliesjust as good without but maybe I will get round to figuring it out one day next year !
Regards
David

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Hi David. Thank you very much for the pictures. The gear defiantly looks more substantial. Did you have to drop down to 90mm on the wheels? Or did you stay with 110mm? The stock wheels are relatively thin- are your replacement wheels thicker than the originals? If starting from scratch do you think you could shim the mounts to move the wheel up farther to avoid cutouts in the gear door? I do appreciate the info. The plane should be here in march so I am trying to get the rest of the pieces sorted out!

skywarrior

Hi,
The wheels are 110 mm dia and 33 mm thick at the widest point point of the tyre.
In my opinion it is not possible to mount this setup without a cutout as the lower side of the tyre in the well is very close to the inner top wing skin when retracted.
Mostly you do not get anything for nothing and I am happy to have the cutout knowing the wheels work perfectly and the brake line won't be kinked when I come to use it. Each to their own but I do wish I had seen the ali soldering stick at "Jetpower" before I glued the new nipples in place. You can see I put excess glue once again to ensure a leak free fit.
All needs to be tidied up anyway as these were thrown in just before a good flying weekend event at the end of our summer and "Do they work and if not what is the problem" was more important at the time.

Hope this is of help.
Why not try ordering your CARF kit without the standard gear then you wont have spare wheels etc.

Regards

David

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Hi David, thank you for taking the time to measure. A friend and i each have ordered the planes sans gear as there is a 12 week wait for the planes and we wanted to get the best setup for the gear- that and the full bill for the plane, turbine, and landing gear is best spread out a bit so the wife doesn't notice.... Thomas was kind enough to send me the cut sheet for the tutor trailing links and his recommendations on wheels and tires. After looking over the options i am thinking I may just go the whole way with behotec electric retracts, wheels, and brakes. Most of the electric retract offerings i have seen as most are well under designed, the behotec system seems to be a step above the rest in its design and implementation. Their electric set for the tutor as pictured doesn't have the trailing link nose gear but i would think that it should be a simple swap or is an error? I still want to research the gear door sequencing a bit as i am unsure how behotecs sequencer works as i cant find a datasheet. Worst case a matchbox a, mix, and servo slow would probably make for a simple setup for the gear doors.

skywarrior

Hi,
I am sure the Behotec elec units will be fine but I saw many elec units at Jetpower and they all were a bit sensitive re an overload at 45' up !My friend was looking for a set for his big A10 and ended up going back to the trusted (if air tight ) air sytem. I use a UP2 valve on three of my jets including the Tutor and so far like all air systems if its tight it reliable. Each to their own and nothing is perfect. Just a note that if you go air you must have an elec brake contoller which is part of the whole elec retract system for the Behotec. I nearly made the mistake as I thought the elec brakes would be great. These I am sure are very good but if you purchase a controller just to use elec brakes it makes a costly braking system. I use a Festo demand valve for the brakes. Its £14 in Uk and is a true demand valve. Fill the brake tank to 100 psi and set you brakes to whatever works for you. Mine work at 6 pounds so the 100 pounds works for the rest of the day without re fill !

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

I have always had good luck with air systems and find it a bit hard to go electric. The stepper motors behotec uses should eliminate the stalling problems. I hope.. I have seen first hand several other vendors electric conversions firsthand and would not buy them. They are poorly designed and barely have enough power under optimal conditions. I am amazed how many people are lining up to pay $ 800 or more to convert quality air retracts to electric. All of the behotec products i have seen appear well designed and executed, hopefully their electrics are too. The tail heavy tendency of the tutor led me to the all electric setup as it seems an easy task to simply add yet another battery to the nose. Thanks for the help! Mike

Tuggs

I am also using behotec C-50 pneumatic units with trailing link oleos on my Tutor. It is working great, which is why I didnt plan on converting to e-tract yet. Only thing i had to do was using 2 independent air systems for gear doors and retracts because the pressure needed for the gear (8 bar) was too high for the gear doors (they snapped off).

skywarrior

Tuggs,
so far so good with mine but I think it would be a good idea to consider using a lower pressure on mine as the doors certainly bang shut. Not sure how I do this with a UP2 valve. Any ideas ?

Regards
David

Tuggs

David,

I guess there are several ways to reduce pressure on air lines. It might be a bit trickier with an UP2 valve since it might interfere with the sequencing cycle when you apply some pressure regulators in the air lines to the gear door rams. I stopped using UP valves because i thought they are too difficult to set up. I never really managed to get them work properly. Either the doors were closing or opening too fast, or the gear did not retract because the pressure was too low. Never figured out how to adjust the needle vavles properly, but this might help you as welll.

Personally, I would suggest to use two electronic valves and an independent sequenzer. That way you can easily adjust pressure and you dont have to worry about the complicated UP valve (only my 2 cents).

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Tuggs, how do you have your gear doors attached to the struts? Thanks, Mike

Tuggs

I'll post you some pics later today.

Tuggs

Mike,

Here are the pictures, hope this helps

-T

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Thank you for the pictures!

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

I have a set of Down & Locked converted Behotec C50 retracts for sale in the classifieds section, please send me a PM if you are interested.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

What the heck is up with Behotec? If you get an email response in two weeks, you are lucky. TwoWalla and I are both trying to purchase the complete new electric Tudor trailing link landing gear set and can't get the job done. All they have to do is send a paypal request for the funds and it is a done deal. We were both bummed that we had to wait three months for the plane. At this rate, we won't have the landing gear in time? Anybody else experience this frustration from them?
Paul