REFLECTOR: wheel shimmy

[Sid Knox]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Al Gietzen" <ALVentures at cox.net>
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: wheel shimmy, another photo


> Did you choose the weight and distance of the counterweight to provide the
> same moment in front as there is in back of the pivot?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Al

Other than being certain that the wheel would retract with no interference, 
choosing both weight and location was pure guesstimate.
One additional comment... after the weight failure and before I installed 
the hydraulic damper, I had intended to try a different type of mass damper 
using lead shot in some sort of a container (?).  A fellow 
pilot/RV4/RV6-builder is an avid duck hunter and he had a bunch of shotgun 
ammunition that he could no longer legally use because of the lead (I'm not 
making this up... this is our government protecting us) so I opened several 
shells and extracted the lead shot (yes, I actually touched the lead) and 
was thinking of a suitable container when the hydraulic damper idea surfaced 
and that seemed a more promising possibility so I went with that.
If you think touching lead is living on the edge,  Ha.  When we were kids, 
we played with mercury in our hands!

Sid