Engine is still in the crate:
I guess my reputation proceeds me. Along with all the helpful tags on which is the oil pressure, oil temp, ignition wires for the coils, etc., they also included one for the oil filler cap. No tag on the dipstick, though. I think they figured it takes one to know one!
And here's the prop:
Because it's storming today, the flash kicked in on both pics with the camera.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Frank, you are using a direct-drive engine?
(By the way, I have a D.VII kit on order, plan to fly an O-200.)
Yep, it's a Valley Engineering 1915cc direct drive VW engine with a 20 amp Diehl case, electronic ignition, and "automatic" carb heat (meaning it's always on) that will spin a 62 inch prop.
More than enough for my obese ultralight.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Brakes!
Okay, so here's what we have to start with, from left to right:
My wheel with the brake drum welded on with a bearing bushing from a tractor for a spacer between it and the wheel.
My spiffy pressed and welded bushings into steel to hold the brake pad.
The brake band, which decided to rust inside its sealed plastic bag. Sigh. Easy enough to fix, though.
The wheel mount bar, which slides into the axel.
Some tubing to make a thingie to hold the wheel onto the wheel mount bar.
Washer to go between brake mount bushing and the wheel, and bolts to hold everything together.
So here's that brake mount bushing wrote about - it's a thick steel thing I found at Lowe's that we pressed into a hole of some thick steel stock and welded in place.
The other side isn't welded.
With the bearing race spacer between the wheel and the brake drum, I came up a bit short on the end for putting anything that would actually hold the wheel onto the axel. I just don't think best wishes will do the job, so....
I'd been kicking around an idea to replace the wheel mount bar with some stock steel, but one of the guys on the builder's forums I frequent wrote about strengths of steel in the wheel mount, and while I doubt it would really matter all that much, there's no use borrowing trouble. What I need is less than 3/8 an inch on the end to give me good purchase on securing the wheel.
So I just backed off the rubber on the shaft a tiny bit...
And that gave me the space I needed to put in an AN3 bolt through some tubing to hold the wheel on. Robert supplied this exact same thing with the kit, but I lost them on the transfer down from Holden, MO.
From here it was just a matter of putting a washer between the wheel and the bushing, figuring out where the brake band fit, drilling a hole and then taking a hack saw to the steel stock to get it roughly to length.
You'll note the break band is a little bent there. Sigh. Torqued it too much when tightening, so it'll come off, get spread, and some washers will go in there. It's also an AN4 bolt, but what it needs is an AN5...so I'll have to enlarge the hole and put one of those in there. May just go grade 8 non-aviation for it.
From here I'll have to drill another hole above the band brake mount for the tube that will go from the gear strut to this mount. I entertained putting them both on the same bolt but it seemed like I might be asking too much of it.
And of course trim down the corners of the mount, sand, and paint it all.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Hi Frank,
you must have the "finish line" in sight, good feeling I guess...
any chance of checking the weight of that wheel-brake assembly before putting it on ?
regards
johan
Re the brake band, you might be better off putting a sleeve in there slightly longer than the band width, then you can tighten down the bolt hard against the sleeve and you won't crush the eyes on the band.
Sure, I'll hang it from a fish scale when it's done.
Sleeving the bolt is a grand idea! Thanks for the suggestion - should be easy enough to do, and is an elegant solution.
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Pics later....
The brake mount, when trimmed and painted, is 10 ounces. The brake band itself is five ounces.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
thanks for getting the fish scale out
actually I was interested in the weight of wheel + brake unit
greetings
johan
Heavy duty wheel with tube, tire, and drum is seven pounds, four ounces.
Last edited by Frank Giger; 01-20-2015 at 12:25 PM.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
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