leedees

I have the nice 3/16 Lado retracts for the my H9 P-47 .60 along with the 580 Robart struts.

I've run into a snag with the install. The Lados do as advertised and they bolt right in. However, when in the up position, even with the gray liner removed the tire will hit the cutout wing rib and this makes it impossible to set the Lados in flush. I could shim up the retract unit but that wouldn't look good or I could cut down the rib all the way to the sheeting or do a little of both.

Has anybody solved this problem?

ZERO-322

My Feedback: (2)

can you post a pic it will help in trying to solve the problem

WarbirdPilots

My Feedback: (209)

I have run into your issue before with my KMP Spitfire. What I did and suggest is that you cut and sand down the rib to the sheeting. This will allow the gear to sit flush and gives room for the wheel to fit into the wing. Don't worry about weakening the wing by cutting the rib. The wing has plenty of ribs and the sheeting on top and bottom also provides plenty of strength.

Hope this helps

Walt Thyng

My Feedback: (9)

On my Top flight GE P-47 I had to do the same thing. I reinforced the wheel well (wing sheeting) with a layer of 1/2 oz glass cloth.
Walt

leedees

TwinTurboZ, Thanks for your comments. After I thought about it some more, I think that's the only solution. I thought I might put a little epoxy on the joints of the surrounding structure and that will be strong enough. It will be a tight fit but it might just work. I'll trim out the bottom of the plastic wheel well and it should be presentable.

da Rock

"the tire will hit the cutout wing rib" ....... ??????

Robart struts have to be shortened for the tire to center itself in the wheel well when the gear is up. I've uploaded a picture of my LADO/RobartStrut gear in the up position to show how they fit. The plastic insert part that goes into the wells usually get trashed on most of mine. I like the strengthening of the wing that lining the well with 1/16" balsa provides.

Very often the struts of replacement retracts hit ribs, and if I remember correctly, a rib needed a bit of removal. When you do that, it's common to add a bit of support to the remainder. But you mention the tire hitting, and that's in the well. What rib there is in the well won't really be needed if you sheet the sides of the well. The insides need to be waterproofed anyway, and that will replace whatever support was removed when you take some rib away.

It sounds like your LADOs are moving the wheels deeper into the wells than the OEM gear would have. After all, the OEM setup had the plastic wells stuck in there, and they take some depth away. The rib height considers the plastic liners. With the wheels up, is the strut down in the wing, or does it show from the front?

leedees

Thanks Walt,

I sanded down the thin part of the rib almost to the sheeting and the wheel just barely fits. It didn't need as much taken off as I first thought. I'll take your advice and strengthen the area some. It won't take much on the H9 layout.

It looks like it will be a good looking retract setup now.

I think the Top Flite P-47 would be my first choice if I was doing it again.

Lee

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

here's what I did for my H-9 Mustang,removed the bit of rib that was remaining and built a gear bay,I lined the edges with 1/8 balsa cut to fit.

in the area where the well is, I just added a piece of 1/16 balsa, to strengthen the wing sheeting, and then glassed the inside of the wheel well, and channel with .56oz glass the area is quite strong even with the rib removed

leedees

Thanks da Rock,

You got it exactly, the LADOs in combination with the Robart struts are moving the wheel deeper into the well than the stock setup. In fact, I can only fit a couple of washers on the axle on the inside of the wheel to keep the wheel as close to the strut as possible. If I had known the struts would do that I might have used the 5/32 stock wires etc with the LADOs.

With the wheels up the struts are completely down in the wing, you can't see them looking at the leading edge. I'll have to figure out how to get the gear doors on them. Your installation looks great.

Lee

leedees

bigtim,

Those retracts on your P-51 look really good and that is no doubt plenty strong. Thanks for the great pics.

Lee

glasair72

My Feedback: (1)

Walt; I've got the same plane and a set of Lado RT. Can you tell me what wheel size/brand you used and which robart strut you used? I'm new to RT and want to place an order soon. Did you have any trouble with the LG retracting to far in and hitting the wing on the top side?

Ron

Walt Thyng

My Feedback: (9)

Ron, without walking threes stories down to my shop and back, I can't give you the exact model numbers; I simply used whatever Top Flight and Robart recommended. I used over-sized wheels (lightweight foamies). Yes, I did have problems with the fit. The first time I retracted the gear in the wing the axles punched through the top sheeting. After I got them adjusted the gear doors hung down too far so I left then off. The only way to get them to fit and have the gear doors flush is to use non-scale thin wheels or only fly off a hard surface. If I were to do it over again, I would go to the next size wire for the gear. My bird weighs way less than 10Lbs no that I have gone to LiPos and anything less than a perfect landing results in bent gear.
Walt

glasair72

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Walt. One of our club members had the same problem with the axel punching a hole in the skin.

Ron