Mark, I used the same Grumman gear leg blanks you describe. I ran them through my wood power planer to 3/4 inch thickness and tapered with a sweep back to get 20 inches for the wheel axil from the leading edge of the stub wing for the stock KR-2. The amount of sweep will depend on tail dragger or nose dragger configuration; they are NOT interchangeable. I used the full 26 inch length. I used the original Diehl casting to mount to the aft face of the main spar. I rounded the leading and trailing edges for stream lining and stress riser relief, I put soda straws in the trailing edges, wrapped with fiberglass and foam, for brake line conduits. Have done lots of taxi testing and on a particularly bad speed bump at a taxiway intersection. The gross weight is 1170 pounds. No problem so far. No landings yet on these gear legs. Expect to fly soon as the weather cooperates.
Sid Wood Tri-gear KR-2 N6242 Mechanicsville, MD, USA ------------------------------------------------------ I recently bought a couple of gear legs that are fiberglass and for a Grumman which have indicated that they will support a 2200 to 2400 pound aircraft. Obviously a KR as about 2/3's to 1/2's that. Should I make them narrower or thinner (i.e., split them to reduce the thickness by about 50%) or narrower (i.e., make the width about 1/3 less than they are now)? They measure 3 3/4" X 1" at the bottom and 7 3/4" X 1" at the top and are 26 1/2" long. I think the length is good, but the other dimensions will be too stiff. What do you guys think? Thanks. Mark W. N952MW (res) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I left my legs the same thickness and extrapolated dimensions from some pictures and a visit to some airplanes.I'm tapering the front and back edges to help forum the round nose and tapered trailing edge. Paul ViskBelleville IL618,406 4705 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Seeing no replies to your question I'll offer my "opinion". If you are building a tail dragger I'd leave them full length. A nose dragger may require you to shorten them to match the nose gear. If you expect your KR to come in around the 700-750 pound range, many do now days, I'd leave them original thickness and cut them to the contour of the Diehl legs. I've got 30" Diehl gear legs and I thickened them a bit. That's my "opinion" based on my experience. Jeff Scott has the only other set of 30" inch legs and I don't know if he "thickened" them or not. Mine seemed to be a bit soft with two people , early in the build process. Larry Flesner ----------------------------------------------------------- My gear legs have the micro with soda straws formed into the leading and trailing edges for brake lines and a wrap of BID glass to finish. I've been pounding this poor plane on the ground relentlessly for over 1100 hours, usually at or near 1200#, and have never had any issues related to the landing gear. Mine are a bit softer than many others, but that doesn't seem to affect them adversely. Soft gear makes for smooth landings. :o) Like Larry, I think I would taper them to match the contour of the Diehl gear, give them a wrap with glass to finish and call it close enough. -Jeff Scott
