REFLECTOR: Nose Gear Doors

Thu Aug 22 19:35:13 CDT 2013

Paul:
So are you going to do what amounts to the third section of the picture
that I sent, only use milled fiber rather than pure epoxy/cab-o-sill ?

How far back on the outside of the fuselage are you planning on bringing
the bid and how are you going to make it square up where it reaches the
door cut-out?   I don't think there is any reasonable way to make those
edges square with fiberglass; there will be some rounding that has to be
filled with something that can make right angles.

I'm thinking that the milled fiber is a good call but I'm not going to try
to do bid on the outside since it's got the support of multiple layers on
the inside; the bid would be wrapped around an edge less than 1/16" thick
and I don't think I can make it do that turn effectively.  I will do 3 or
maybe 4 layers of bid on the inside to help provide strength though.

On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 3:36 PM, Paul Folkes <ausvelocity at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the input,everyone.  My only reason for thinking to use just
> Cabosil is that my old manual says it is great for filling nicks, chips and
> small gaps.  However, I think that you are all right, and that 'belts and
> braces' is better in that area, and so I am going to use milled fibre and
> cabo mix to infill and cover with fine bid.  That should do it!
>
> Thanks again everyone.
>
> Regards,
>
> Paul Folkes
> XLRG
> VH-VVX
> *building but a looooong way to go.*
> *
> *
>
>
>
> On 23 August 2013 08:07, Matt Bucko <mbuc310 at cox.net> wrote:
>
>>  Andy, you are correct.
>> Matt
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/22/2013 12:53 PM, Andrew Ellzey wrote:
>>
>> Somebody can correct me, if I am wrong, but cab o sil is only susposed to
>> be used as a thinking agent, why don't you use milled glass fibers and
>> structural epoxy. This mixture is then structural. Not just a non
>> structural filler, unless that is what you are looking for, then you should
>> again use structural or non structural epoxy, and mill glass beads, and
>> then thicken it with cab o sil.
>>
>>  Andy Ellzey
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Aug 22, 2013, at 5:07 PM, Clayton Chase <chasec at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>    I'm having the same problem Paul is only in my case it's because I
>> can't cut straight, not that the factory made the hole wrong.  I've made a
>> picture that shows the situation perhaps a little more clearly.
>>
>>  I was thinking that since the cab-o-sil is not very thick and is already
>> backed by the flange fiberglass it would be strong enough on its own.
>> Does anyone have any opinions on this?
>>
>> <Nose Gear Door Gap Issue And Solutions.png>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 7:28 PM, Paul Folkes <ausvelocity at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Bob,
>>>
>>>  thanks.  I did something similar to get the bend in the doors to match
>>> the contour of the fuselage, which is now good.  My problem is uneven gaps
>>> between the door edges and the edges of the hole, because the hole is not
>>> square.
>>>
>>>  Paul Folkes
>>> XLRG
>>> VH-VVX
>>> *building but a looooong way to go.*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  On 22 August 2013 12:04, Bob Jackson (Jax Tech) <bobj at jaxtechllc.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>>   Paul,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> An alternative to filling the gaps is to bend the doors to fit the
>>>> fuselage opening.  When we first fit our gull wing doors to the fuselage,
>>>> the doors on both sides did not follow the exact contour of the fuselage,
>>>> and the bottom corners of the door stuck out and in ~1/2" from the fuselage
>>>> surface.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We had great success in building a 'jig' involving 3/8" threaded rods,
>>>> threaded through temporary holes cut into the door beams, and through 2x4's
>>>> temporarily fixed to the insides and outsides of the fuselage for
>>>> leverage.  By turning nuts on the threaded rod we could 'spring' the doors
>>>> into proper alignment.  The next step then was to heat the door (multiple
>>>> hot air guns and heat lamps until the door fiberglass was almost too hot to
>>>> touch) so that the epoxy would 'flow' slightly and the door would bend
>>>> slightly and assume the new desired shape that was flush with the fuselage
>>>> skin.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I think you only can do this 'trick' a few times before the epoxy
>>>> begins to 'work harden' and will no longer re-flow and bend.  We learned
>>>> trial-and-error that we needed to 'over-spring' the bending corrections
>>>> (e.g., if we needed to move the door in 1/2", then using the nuts on the
>>>> threaded rod actually bend it in 1" while heating it up).  Once we heated
>>>> it up with something like twice the correction needed, once it cooled down
>>>> after a few hours and we removed the rig, the door would loose about half
>>>> of the correction and spring back to 'about right'.  One or two cycles of
>>>> this and our doors now fit perfectly!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This doesn't seem to be a technique that too many people know about,
>>>> but it worked great for us and I think it should also work on you nose gear
>>>> doors.
>>>>
>>>> Good luck!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Bob Jackson
>>>>
>>>> Turbo-Cross Country Velocity XL-RG
>>>>
>>>> N2XF
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  ------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> *From:* reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]
>>>> *On Behalf Of *Paul Folkes
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 21, 2013 8:36 PM
>>>> *To:* Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
>>>> *Subject:* REFLECTOR: Nose Gear Doors
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm looking for some advice from the collective wisdom.  I am working
>>>> on the nose gear doors.  I have an older, fast-build kit and have to make
>>>> my own flange (no problem there). My problem is the hole cut out by the
>>>> factory is not square and there are a few dings and chips from moves from
>>>> garage to garage to hangar by the previous owner. This all means that there
>>>> are some uneven and quite large (up to 1/4 inch) gaps around the
>>>> pre-moulded doors that I need to fill and reshape to get the hole square
>>>> with nice straight edges.  What is the best process and material for this?
>>>>  I am thinking to cover the door piece in duct tape or saran wrap and hot
>>>> glue or bondo it into place, wipe cabosil into the gaps around the door,
>>>> and then sand square when cured.  Any comments, please?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Paul Folkes
>>>>
>>>> XLRG
>>>>
>>>> VH-VVX
>>>>
>>>> *building but a looooong way to go.*
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>
>
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