Landing Gear, Part 2

Next up is the wheel and brake installation upon the main gear legs.  The pictures below show only the axle and the spacer plate attached to the gear leg as I don't plan on installing the calipers until later.  I just want to get the forward fuselage on its gear to better facilitate the upcoming fiberglass fairing construction.  The entire fuselage is currently on a table and really is too high for the fiberglass work...to make matters worse, I cannot fully extend the canopy to its upright position without hitting the overhead garage (hangar) rafters!

The next process is a tricky one....namely, assessing the amount of correction for toe-in or toe-out.  The Van's prescribed method of using a thread and wooden block seems like a reasonable approach, but it has given me the "fits."  My best guess is that I have about 1+ degree of toe-out on the pilot side gear leg.  I believe that the passenger side wheel/leg assembly is about true.  After being tempted to shim the axle to the gear leg with washers, I gave in to the more precise and structurally (for the bolts) superior method of using a shim.  Those buggers are expensive at $25 each...especially when it really is almost impossible to measure the exact angle that the leg and axle make with the aircraft centerline.  I imagine that with some lasers you could nail it right on the money.  The poor quality pictures below document my best efforts at quantifying the toe-in/out.  More to come when the shim arrives, gets installed and I see the result.  I'm not too thrilled about this process.

Back to the brakes momentarily to document the installation of the blue AN fluid fittings with the requisite pipe thread sealant to secure the connection.

Next process will be to install the nose gear leg and fork and then the wheel.  The first task is to install a couple of anti-rotation plates to constrain the nosewheel axle.  The shot below shows the plates after priming and solid riveted to the fork with AN426 rivets

The front end of the fork has two holes that must be tapped with 5/16-24 threads so accommodate the cap screws that serve as the the stops for the swiveling nosewheel.  Do you see the error?  Yep, I threaded the holes in the bottom of the fork - not the top.  I fixed that pretty quick and reinstalled  the cap screws to their correct location.

Some more substantial fun awaits: affixing the nose gear leg and the lower Viking engine mount to the firewall.  The picture below actually shows the upper mount as well as the lower mount.  The Viking mounts are installed with 3/8 inch bolts with Nordlock washers on both sides of the firewall.  The fitment was excellent and required very little work to get everything lined up and installed.

Now, its time for the first landing from about 6 inches of altitude from where the little beast has lived for past several months.  One note prior to the next ground-based pictures:  putting the legs on the RV-12 does come with a cost.  The fuselage will no longer be able to be placed on its side for ease of installation of any sub-systems.  I hope I have done my homework and do not regret the timing of the landing gear installation.

This is also a pretty good shot of the Viking engine mounts.

And we have a smooth landing...