.
146.
a. Brace the mounting plate to the
sides with triangular stock
through the mounting plate and
tank floor.
NOTE:
There is not much room for the Spring Air steering arm in the nose. In the
installation shown in the following pictures the situation was carried to the
extreme by mounting the nose unit slight off center to the left of the fuselage
center line so that the wheel would retract into the exact center of the wing. This
turned out to put the steering arm through the bottom fuselage block. The
problem was avoided by first trimming down the plastic end of the steering arm
to give more clearance. Next, the left side balsa bottom block was tack glued
on, carved to shape and removed. The outer surface was covered with
fiberglass cloth and resin. A router was used to remove all of the balsa from the
block in the area of the steering arm movement right down to the inside surface
of the fiberglass outer shell. This got the arm clear, but with only about 1/16" to
spare - but a miss is as good as a mile.
Perhaps you should consider not being so picky as we were about the wheel
being centered and instead put the unit in the center, letting wheel retract
slightly off center. This will give a bit more space for the steering arm, though it
probably still is worth-while to put the cloth and resin on the outside of the
bottom block so it can be completely hollowed out for clearance without having
to worry about cutting through the side and spoiling the block.
147.
Epoxy 4-40 blind nuts on the top of the
tank floor. The mounting bolts for the
unit must be trimmed off flush with the
floor so as not to damage the tank.
See Suggestion (1.) on the full size plan
before deciding on tank floor installation.
This more recent method provides 1/8"
more mounting space, which gets the
steering arm higher and farther from the
fuselage side.
148.
Cut out F-2 to pass the wheel. This hole
could be cut out before the fuselage is
assembled if you plan ahead. If not, a
Dremel grinder is a help.
149.
As previously mentioned, the Spring Air steering arm has minimum clearance on the inside of the nose block. Therefore the
arm must be located flush against the unit to get it up as high as possible. To do so you will probably have to grind away a
bit of the frame so the set screw will not drag on it during full movement of the steering arm.
150.
a. The triangular stock must be whittled away to clear the steering pushrod.
b. Mount the cable pushrod tubing on a scrap balsa standoff. We used silicone cement to glue pushrod tubing in place.
Its flexibility avoids binding problems that a rigid epoxy gluing job can sometimes cause.
151.
The complete nose gear steering installation should be completed and tested with the servos operating before proceeding.
152.
Cut the balsa bottom block supplied in the kit in half. Fit the halves onto each side with the required opening in the middle.
Tack glue them in place.
153.
Carve and sand the bottom blocks to contour. Cut through the tack gluing and remove the blocks. Now is the time to coat
the outside of the left block with fiberglass cloth and resin. Carve out the inside of the blocks to pass the pushrod and
provide space for maneuvering the unit into and out of the fuselage. (Do not build the unit in so that it cannot be removed.)
The hole you see is just large enough with the hOllowing inside to allow the unit to be pulled to the back and out the wheel
hole.
