Chapter 9 - Step 6 - Constructing the Landing Brake

Jan 21, 2007 - Landing Brake

I moved over to working on this while I am waiting on a bit to come in via the mail to drill the permanent LG attach holes. So I'll probably flip back and forth here a bit until I get both done. It's always good to have a couple different things to work on. I started by reading up on step 6 and it asks you to cut the landing break out. Now the landing brake at this point is part of the bottom of the airplane and back in a previous chapter (six probably) it gets covered up with the outer skin. Thank goodness for the rotiserie at this point. It makes things so easy when you can just tip the plane partway onto its side and you can go to work. (Top left) I marked out where the cuts were called for and made them.

PAY ATTENTION HERE: Now when I "tacked" the Landing brake in place, I got a bit over-zealous and tacked a bit too much and when I had to "Pop the landing brake out" it did more popping foam bits out. so I had some repair work to do. (top center) so over to the table, square out the "frayed" bits and micro on the fixes. I then weighed it down and I'll wait for it all to cure overnight . I then cleaned up the hole that it came out of. (Top right) I couldn't do a whole lot more with that until I get the repairs cured so I move on to the next step which is fabricating LB-19 and LB 23.

Now this isn't too tough. It took me about 20 mins on a table saw, miter saw and sanding belt to make it all come out just right and I ended up with the bits you see below. (bottom left) That'll do for now on this. I'll work on it a bit more tomorrow. Maybe I can get this step completed before that bit comes in to finish up step 2.

Feb 4 , 2007 - Landing Brake Continued

Back at the landing brake... The picture on the top left is what the it looked like after I patched in some repairs. It isn't totally fung shuei yet but I got it there. What needed to be done next was routing out the hole for the LB 23 to go into. i used a 5/8" drill bit. The plans called for a 1/4" but after you put on the aluminum bits which are 1/4" by them selves, aluminum shims, the hinge and actually find the real location for what you need you're better of starting with something bigger. (Top Center) Yes i know it all looks scabby now because of my over-zealous tack job, but it all gets sanded straight and nice later... Next I test fit LB-23 (top right)

I moved over to the hinge and tacked on LB-19 with 5 minute epoxy. (Bottom-left; remember to tape the hinge to keep the epoxy out) and I also epoxied on the aluminum stock. (Bottom center) Yes I realize that the aluminum squares aren't square. I had some left over 1/4" alum and I used that and it didn't lend itself to squareness. It doesn't matter though. You end up tapping a small screw through this latter and as long as you know where to drill you'll be fine. I then jigged up both pieces along with the shims and got everything all aligned. (Bottom right)

Next I had to get all this fit together back in the plane, but to do so I had to create.... "THE MAGIC TOOL". (Top Left - take a minute and look) Now you may be saying to yourself, "Nate... That looks alot like a piece of sandpaper glued to a stick. An a not-so-fancy stick at that. " And to that I would say, "Well you got that right! but that baby does the trick of sanding out the little grooves for the aluminum bits on the back of LB-21."

Now I know what you're thinking... Well... Actually I don't despite what my wife thinks from time to time (Joking honey... :-) My advice.... Make a stick like this and spray glue a bit of sandpaper to it. It makes sanding out those grooves easy. Don't try to use your finger... I know that's what you're thinking about doing. Just don't and trust me on this one.

Anyway, after making the stick I had to sand and cut and remove some of the foam I had lovingly added back to the landing brake. (Top Center) Yes I know it still looks scabby. Give it time grasshopper. I chipped out that foam so that my hinge assembly would fit on top of it. (Top Right) When it's all fitting together correctly, you get something that looks a little like this. (Bottom Left) And my fancy stick...Oh! Sorry... My "Magic Tool" sanded out the little grooves you see (bottom center) there.

Now... Today I must have had some good beans for lunch or something because I was thinking clearly... The plans say to carefully mark on the landing brake "EXACTLY" where LB19 and the hinge attach to it.... And I say to myself.... "WTF! How am I supposed to mark something EXACTLY when it's upside down being covered by itself. That's like saying... Trace your belly button while your laying on your stomach. Jeez! But wait! The beans that I ate gave me a good idea... Spray a bit of that spray adhesive on the area of the LB where these things touch under there and let it tack up, put er on there, align everyghing perfectly and let it stick. Then pull it all off, outline where they touch and pull it appart before it all drys totally.. Then you just sand off the glue. (5 seconds) and you have it.... Simple!!! Danged if it didn't work perfectly. (gotta eat more of those beans) Here you see it tacked on with spray adhesive. (Bottom right).

After all this I Floxed the whole bit together per plans. I thought I took a picture of it all weighted down but evidently not. You can probably live without seeing a picture of that last photo floxed on with bricks sitting on it anyway.

Feb 10, 2007 - Puttin it in place

Per plans; I microed the LB-21 into place making sure that everything aligned. Then as you can see blow, I weighted it all down. I may have made a mistake here by not saran wrapping the part before I microed it in place.... I'll find out tomorrow when I try to take it off....

March 2, 2008 - More Landing Brake Work - Yeah I know... It's been a year...

I can only say one thing about the year interlude thing... "school"

OK... onto what's getting done.

I'd been a bit worried about the chunks that I took out of the foam under the landing break for some time. It appears that the worry was needless because the first instruction was... "remove 1/8" of foam... [from this area]" w00t! Alrighty!!!! (below left) - Problem solved for me... No repairs needed here!. Thank you mr router. You removed that foam with perfect precision and the Fein tool finished the job around the edges.

I do like my Roto-Zip. I used a bit I am showing you below to remove it. Not sure what it is called right now... but it works like gang-busters. Once I was all done making foam dust, it looked like the picture below right. I then ran a centerline string and made some measurements so that I could then begin the process of carving out some foam for the electric landing brake motor.

I made my measurements.... carved out the foam... sanded the radius so that the bid would lay down on it when I do that next weekend... It looked like the pic below left. Yeah.... did it wrong...

So I went back and did it right. (below center). then a bit more measuring to make sure everything is just right and draw a picture and some lines in the carved out area... change bits to a zip bit on the olde roto-zip and voila! I have this keyhole looking hole in the bottom of the plane right where the landing brake armature will extend. Even though it will eventually be covered up and nobody will every see it... I got out the rasp, semi-lunar and rat-tail files and rounded everything all nice like. Ahhhhh.... quality!

That about does it for this part. Ran out of time. If you haven't been there, I also worked on chapter 9 - step 3 today.

9 March, 2008 - Getting there....

Back to work on this section after working on chapter 9 - step 3 for a while this weekend. I had to do the layups on the fuselage side of the landing brake and let them cure before I can do the layups on the actual brake itself. This layup proved to be a tricky little layup with lots of curves and depressions to get the glass into. Thankfully it is a BID layup and not a UNI. That UNI doen't have the ability to deform in the ways needed for this sort of work.

To get started, I had to cut the cloth needed for the layup. The plans suggest that you might be able to do this perfectly so that you don't have to knife trim the fiberglass cloth later, but I don' have a bionic tape measure or eye that allows .1" tolerances on cuts that have this many depressions and curves... so I have some trimming to do with the fein tool next weekend. Next I did the layup starting with a stiff micro mix in the hard to reach places... (no not that one.... get your head out of the toilet). This layup takes a bit longer than you'd first think. I think all told I was at this for about 2.5 hours. I ended up with what you see on the right. I like to use "soft" dive weights in these areas becuase they conform to the curves nicely. I'll take a picuture of the completed area next weekend.

March 16, 2008 

OK... I forgot to take pictures of this but the parts are still not trimmed up, so before I work on them next I'll take pictures....

So, the short and the long of it is that I did the layups on the back-side of the landing brake itself. I really don't like this part for some reason. It looks OK but for the first time, I have a void along one edge because I didn't radius the edges enough. I haven't set the piece down in the hole it is supposed to fit in yet but I suspect that this void is going to bite me... I guess I'll see this coming weekend. (Oh!!! Holy crap... I did take a picture! Well maybe there is hope if this is any sort of sign!) This is a picture of it all wetted out and curing.