Undercarraige fails on Skyartec Cessna 182

[solentlife]

So there I am .. arrive at airfield and plug in LiPo ...

Give it the quick ground check and let loose ....

She rolls along tarmac with the usual main UC vibration where the wire used is a bit on the 'light' side ... she lifts off ...

Hang on a mo ... 2 wheels lift with model ... but right main wheel is still on ground !

Well while I'm up there I'm going to have a fly !

So 6 mins later I bring her in and soft landing in the grass.

Andrejs has retrieved the lost wheel for me while flying ...

The l;eg has broken right at the bend where you insert into the plastic holder in fuselage ...



So what to do ? I remove other wheels and fly by hand-launch and land in the grass ..... But it's nor same. A Cessna should be doing low passes and touch & go's with wheels !!

Back at home ... I look at me ME109 with similar wheel wire set-up ... it works but I cannot fit wheel pants as wire gauge is too large for Cessna wheels and ME109's wheels are too wide for pants.

Thinking cap ... why not adapt old broken to fit via wood block ?



May not be perfect .. but it may work ...

Hollow out with soldering iron up to the back of battery compartment to give strong wall to glue to.

Fit with epoxy and then fill gaps with hot-melt glue.



Just need to trim and clean up

Jobs a flyer - we hope !!

[squidger]

Should do the trick

[solentlife]

I have to admit that I'm one of those 'old-hands' who will do all they can to fix by whatever is on the bench ...rather than spend !

I was not about to order a new leg set and see same happen few months later.

Thinking about it ... I could have put the WHOLE assembly into a wood block and still used the original plastic holder ... but I decided to cut of the square centre section ... make both legs same ... z bend each top end and groove 2 1/4" wood blocks so that legs were trapped in epoxied blocks together.

It certainly feels more firm / secure than the original.

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Wont the wire fail at the glue joint in torsion?

I hope I'm wrong... time will tell.

Steve

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by JetPlaneFlyer

Wont the wire fail at the glue joint in torsion?

I hope I'm wrong... time will tell.

Steve

I fully expect it too ........ the wire is stiff and brittle so is only a matter of time.
But I want to fly .. I like the look of the spats on her etc.

So this will give me time while I work out a better solution ........

[Mr. X.]

Originally Posted by solentlife

I fully expect it too ........ the wire is stiff and brittle so is only a matter of time.
But I want to fly .. I like the look of the spats on her etc.

So this will give me time while I work out a better solution ........

pick up some wire and bend it in a vice to make a new set? should cost almost nothing

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Mr. X.

pick up some wire and bend it in a vice to make a new set? should cost almost nothing

I live in Latvia and it's not so easy to get 2mm diameter sprung steel wire ... The only wire I can get bends so easily - it would be useless.

Anyway ... the modification / repair I did works out better than expected .. there is now no vibration or wheel wobble at all. The U/C tracks excellently. I reckon it will last a lot longer than I thought.

A second item is the nosewheel arrangement.

You have a servo operated arm through a plastic mount with short metal rod out bottom. To this is fitted a sleeve with grub screw. Nosewheel leg then slides into other end of collar and similar grub screw tightened.
This arrangement is terrible and every time you land - the nosewheel twists offline. The grub screws cannot hold it tight enough. I tried Loctite as well ... no good.

Finally I got some 3mm machine bolts ... shortened the threaded length and replaced the grub screws with them. I can now tighten up real hard and it's cured. The grub screws are now spares for my brushless motor mounts !!