Anyone know of a source? I want them to open tail wheel doors with gear down (close via wire / rubber band / fishing line etc. when gear goes up)

Its easier to have the rubber bands pull your gear doors open when the wheel goes down and the wheel pull the doors up behind it.

SonicTronics makes spring loaded hinges for exactly this purpose. I dont remember the part number though. You can get them from Tower I think.

Jaygull, thanks for the tip. Both ButcherBird and I are looking for the same item.

Here is the link.


http://www.sonictronics.com/products/hinges/prod08.htm

Use regular pinned hinges. Remove the pins and replace them with music wire of the same diameter. Now bend the wire into sort of an S shape to form a spring.

ilike2fly,

That is another good suggestion. Thanks for the tip!

Butcherbird. I failed to mention in my previous post that using a small air cylinder on the doors works well too. Its very positive and operates on the same air supply as the tail wheel. Just something to think about. BobH.

I made mini pushrods with Z bends on one end and ball connectors on the other end, one for each door, linking gear doors to gear frame. When the gear goes down the pushrods open the door. When the gear goes up it pulls the door shut behind it. It does however demand a LOT of tweaking.