Landing gear stop cables

[mikeg]

Does anyone know what the dimensions are for the landing gear stop cables on a B model? I have the soldered ends but nothing in between.
Mikeg

[flyguy]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

I know mine are WAY too long.

Seriously, if you don't get a specific answer you should be able to make an educated guess. That is: How far do you want your bungees to stretch in case of a REALLY bad landing, or how far up do you want the gear to collapse in case the bungees fail?
DC

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Well I can get you an answer this week if no one has available by then. I have a 41 and a 46 I can measure. Larry

[mikeg]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Thanks, Larry. I appreciate the help. I remember my dad saying that the wing tip does not quite touch the ground when the cords are broken but that the airplane is very hard to taxi :-)

He had a '39 BL-50 (converted to a BL-55, NC22625).
Mikeg

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

I could not lay my hands on the drawing; the jig I use has the loops, inside to inside at 27 3/4 in. 3/16 cable and I make the loops large enough so they do not touch the cords. I have photos of the installation. here is one.

[mikeg]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Thanks,
Mikeg

[Hal]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Gents,
Here is a picture of a jig that I got from this group a while back.
Hal

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Cold weather is good for hunting. I came across this while looking for some other drawings.
Hank

Two exposures in case it is hard to see.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

I don't remember exactly what I did but I do remember not liking the cables getting caught up in the bungee action so I zip tied them off to the side. To where they touch nothing until they are needed, at which time the zip ties will fail and allow the cables to do their job. Maybe I can get a pic later this month. Larry

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

that sketch is not correct, the routing should take them away from the cords; look at my pictures.... also the jig may be for the 9090 cords on the early ships not the 9010 used later on it is one inch short.... it will work.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Forrest,
Hit me off line at hjarrett the number 2 at cox dot net (no spaces) and we can go over what I need to do to redraw that drawing for the collection. When it looks right I will scan it and post it for everyone.

By the way, for anyone who may have noticed some of these drawings are on NASA drawing forms, don't worry about it. They aren't going to come with the black helicopters for me. When NASA went to all digital drawings a LOOOONG time ago there was a lot of drafting paper that was being recycled. They gave me a bunch of it rather than trashing it. I should have taken all of it I could carry! I'm down to the last few packages. It used to FILL the area under the guest bed.
Hank

[flyguy]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Interesting, I have never seen that drawing before, but it is close to the way I installed mine. If nothing else, it is nice and neat. I will do an inspection ever so often and see whether the bungees are being chewed up, and post a report on the forum.

Hank, shuuuh, don't tell anyone, I still have some wire that I am pretty sure was left over from the Apollo program. It is really good stuff.
DC

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Landing gear stop cables

Be careful how you use it. There is a lot of Capton wire in spacecraft and the insulation cracks after exposure to moisture (not a problem in space). After the wire absorbs the moisture the insulation can crack shorting the wires. At that time the wire insulation will burn like fuse!
We spent MILLIONS rewiring the A-6 to get Capton wire out of it and burned up a few planes before we figured out what was happening.
DON'T USE IT IN YOUR PLANE!!!
Hank