Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

I am in the planning stages for building a Brian Taylor Hellcat. I have a set of CJ rotating retracts (save the gear discussion for another thread please :D) but the plans from Bob Holman only show fixed gear.

Does anyone have a scan of the retract are from a similar sized hellcat that I could use to get these installed??

Thanks,

Ben in SC

Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

Ben:

I have the plans for the BT Hellcat. This is how I would go about installing retracts. I do not have the plans in front of me at the moment so I cannot remember the rib numbers that the retracts would fit between. Anyway, take those ribs and use them to make templates. Cut the ribs out of 1/8 aircraft ply (5 ply). Cut out four plywood ribs for each rib. Sandwich the balsa rib between two of the plywood ribs and glue them with 30 minute epoxy. You should now have two ribs per wing half that are doubled with plywood. Make a 1/4 plywood plate that will fit between the two ribs and cut out the center section of the plate so you can mount your retract to it. You will also need to re-enforce the main spar area around the retracts because you will need to cut a "U" shape section out of it in order for the strut to clear as the wheel is retracting. You can do this by making two 1/8 plywood plates that fits in between the top and bottom of the main spars and is glued to the front and rear of the spars. I would extend these plates from the center of the wing to one or two bays past the retracts.

Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

Here are a couple of pictures of how it is done on the Bates Hellcat. The first picture is looking down from the top of the wing. The leading edge of the wing is on the right side of the picture. The ribs have a slot cut out for the retract plate. I used triangle stock and carbon fiber to re-enforce the area.

Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

This picture is looking at the area from the top, back. The section on the bottom of the picture is where the wheel lays. You can see the "U" shape cut out for the strut and the plywood re-enforcement of the main spar.

Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

Thanks for the pics kirk. It looks like the retracts are installed between the two outermost ribs in the wing center section. I think I can throw something together based on your description and pics.

Would still like a digi cam shot or scan of "just" the retract area if anyone is willing.

Thanks,

Ben

Gear mod for BT Hellcat??
 

Ben:

One other thing I just thought about. If my memory serves me correctly, the main spars are balsa. I would suggest using spruce or bass wood for the main spars.

BT HellCat.....
 

Kirk....Nice mods and pics.....I use the same set-up on "ALL" my warbirds with a couple of other additions......I glass the balsa sheeting inside the the gearwell above the mounts to stop any skin cracks from a hard landing here or there......I also strengthen the shear webs on those ribs/spar areas aft of the gear mounts and then add some ply to aft side of L/E fwd of gear mounts.....I ran out of gas powering up for a Go-Around 10 ft off the runway on my P-51 several months ago....had a forced landing and bent the robart struts 75* and did nothing to the mounts...only had to replace the outer struts on each gear.....beats pulling the gear out of the wings..........Bill.......

gear plate
 

Also suggest extending the plywood gear plate (where the retracts bolts in) all the way aft to tie into the main spar and back up with triangle stock as shown.