REFLECTOR: Main gear leg problems

[Al Gietzen]

I have an idea and I just thought I'd throw it out to the group to see 
what kind of response I get.  What if I were to take the wheel off, 
remove the axle shaft and re-mount it on the opposite side of the gear 
leg (pointing inward)?  Then I would allow the full weight of the 
airplane to rest on the axle shaft which would rest on a block of wood 
on the floor.  Perhaps I could use a heat gun to heat the bottom of the 
gear leg and allow it to bend back in the right direction.

Is this feasible or would it be more work than it's worth.

Dave;

It may be worth a try.  The tough part will be to control things to keep
them from twisting, and get the camber back where it should be.  However;
after/if you get them straight, I would sand/grind off the reinforcing plies
and inspect the leg body to see if there are signs of epoxy deletion
anywhere in the compacted rope that makes of the leg. If not, put on new
plies and proceed to re-set the toe-in.

If all this doesn't work out; you can still consider the new legs - or you
can start there.

Best,

Al