---------------------------------------------------------- L29-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Tue 03/21/17: 3 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:30 AM - Re: Czech Tail Cradle (William Geipel) 2. 06:33 AM - Re: Czech Tail Cradle (William Geipel) 3. 07:06 AM - Re: Czech Tail Cradle (Anthony Royal) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:30:37 AM PST US From: William Geipel Subject: Re: L29-List: Czech Tail Cradle It goes behind the belly inspection pan. The main pipe of the tail dolly has a hole in it that goes directly under the tail skid and keep the tail from rotating off the dolly. I need to see my airplane or a pix to tell you exactly where it goes. > On Mar 20, 2017, at 19:41, Anthony Royal wrote: > > Hey you guys that have a Czech tail cradle. I need to pick your brain and gleen some of your knowledge. I bought a Czech L29 tail cradle couple of months ago. In really good to excellent shape for something 40+ years old. I've never used an original cradle so I have some questions. > > I guess the first question is where do you locate the cradle pads? I used the hd box rib that is about 8"-12" from the front of the tail parting line for the front pads and the rear pads located on the heavy reinforced box rib to the rear of the speed brakes, just forward of the lower inspection door. Whole thing seemed a little far forward to me. Is that the correct position or should it be farther toward the rear? Tail/cradle didn't tip over when the tail came off which was good. > > I had to jack the aircraft so the main gear tires were 6-8 or possibly more inches off the ground to get the front pads under the fuselage.The jack screws on the cradle were all the way down. I then lowered the jacks till the front of the tail section was on the front pads. Then raised the rear pads till they supported the rear of the tail (about 4 threads). The front pads fit the contour of the tail perfectly. The rear pads, however, fit fine vertically but horizontally, only half of the pads touched. Nothing is bent on the cradle. Should the rear pads fit the contour of the tail in the horizontal plane as well as the vertical, same as the front pads? Should I modify the rear pad bracketry so the pads fit flush/full contact horizontally? > > When one tried to remove the tail by pulling only the cradle handle, the tail would slide on the cradle pads. Parting line was same gap distance top and bottom so didn't seem to be in a bind. Had 2 straps holding the tail to the cradle also. Had the front of the aircraft supported so the front didn't drop when the tail came off. Finally, had one person pulling on the cradle handle and two pushing rearward on the tail so it wouldn't slide on the pads. When the tail finally came off the airframe, the exhaust pipe was perfectly centered in the tail section and came off without any problem. > > The manual says two people can take the tail off in about 2.5 hours. Took us quite a bit longer, about double, for me and two other people. Would anyone have any advise or guidance for the next time? Thanks for your input. > > Tony ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 06:33:00 AM PST US From: William Geipel Subject: Re: L29-List: Czech Tail Cradle By myself, I can get it off in under 1 hour. (30 to 45 minutes) Jack it up about 4-6 inches and don=99t touch the jacks until the tail is back on. Send pix, or send video. > On Mar 20, 2017, at 19:41, Anthony Royal wrote: > > Hey you guys that have a Czech tail cradle. I need to pick your brain and gleen some of your knowledge. I bought a Czech L29 tail cradle couple of months ago. In really good to excellent shape for something 40+ years old. I've never used an original cradle so I have some questions. > > I guess the first question is where do you locate the cradle pads? I used the hd box rib that is about 8"-12" from the front of the tail parting line for the front pads and the rear pads located on the heavy reinforced box rib to the rear of the speed brakes, just forward of the lower inspection door. Whole thing seemed a little far forward to me. Is that the correct position or should it be farther toward the rear? Tail/cradle didn't tip over when the tail came off which was good. > > I had to jack the aircraft so the main gear tires were 6-8 or possibly more inches off the ground to get the front pads under the fuselage.The jack screws on the cradle were all the way down. I then lowered the jacks till the front of the tail section was on the front pads. Then raised the rear pads till they supported the rear of the tail (about 4 threads). The front pads fit the contour of the tail perfectly. The rear pads, however, fit fine vertically but horizontally, only half of the pads touched. Nothing is bent on the cradle. Should the rear pads fit the contour of the tail in the horizontal plane as well as the vertical, same as the front pads? Should I modify the rear pad bracketry so the pads fit flush/full contact horizontally? > > When one tried to remove the tail by pulling only the cradle handle, the tail would slide on the cradle pads. Parting line was same gap distance top and bottom so didn't seem to be in a bind. Had 2 straps holding the tail to the cradle also. Had the front of the aircraft supported so the front didn't drop when the tail came off. Finally, had one person pulling on the cradle handle and two pushing rearward on the tail so it wouldn't slide on the pads. When the tail finally came off the airframe, the exhaust pipe was perfectly centered in the tail section and came off without any problem. > > The manual says two people can take the tail off in about 2.5 hours. Took us quite a bit longer, about double, for me and two other people. Would anyone have any advise or guidance for the next time? Thanks for your input. > > Tony ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 07:06:37 AM PST US From: Anthony Royal Subject: Re: L29-List: Czech Tail Cradle My =C2-tail cradle does not have a support or anyway to attach to the tai l skid. =C2-When assembling the cradle the connecting tube could not be c hanged. Barely could get the tube in to line up the one set of holes on eac h end. Mine has the safety bolts. One bolt in one end and two, horizontal a nd vertical in the other end. =C2-using the other set of holes would only lengthen the cradle a few inches. =C2-Sounds like I need to do a little modification. Would someone be kind enough to send me a photo of their crad le that has the tail skid securing support? If it goes behind the belly pan, then I'm way far forward but it is positio ned on the the box ribs that have the double rivet.. My skid has no way to secure the tail skid to the cradle. I'll send some pics. Had to take the plane off the jacks to put both tail a nd plane into hangar due to bad weather. Any comment on whether the rear pads should fit the contour of the tail as opposed to only half the pad touching? Thanks for all the input. Tony On Tuesday, March 21, 2017 9:36 AM, William Geipel w rote: By myself, I can get it off in under 1 hour. (30 to 45 minutes)Jack it up about 4-6 inches and don=99t touch the jacks until the tail is back o n.Send pix, or send video. On Mar 20, 2017, at 19:41, Anthony Royal wrote: Hey you guys that have a Czech tail cradle. I need to pick your brain and g leen some of your knowledge. =C2-I bought a Czech L29 tail cradle couple of months ago. In really good to excellent shape for something 40+ years ol d. =C2-I've never used an original cradle so I have some questions. I guess the first question is where do you locate the cradle pads? I used t he hd box rib that is about 8"-12" from the front of the tail parting line for the front pads and the rear pads located on the heavy reinforced box ri b to the rear of the speed brakes, just forward of the lower inspection doo r. Whole thing seemed a little far forward to me. Is that the correct posit ion or should it be farther toward the rear? Tail/cradle didn't tip over wh en the tail came off which was good. I had to jack the aircraft so the main gear tires were 6-8 or possibly more inches off the ground to get the front pads under the fuselage.The jack sc rews on the cradle were all the way down. I then lowered the jacks till the front of the tail section was on the front pads. Then raised the rear pads till they supported the rear of the tail (about 4 threads). The front pads fit the contour of the tail perfectly. The rear pads, however, fit fine ve rtically but horizontally, only half of the pads touched. Nothing is bent o n the cradle. =C2-Should the rear pads fit the contour of the tail in the horizontal plane as well as the vertical, same as the front pads? =C2-Sh ould I modify the rear pad bracketry so the pads fit flush/full contact hor izontally? =C2- When one tried to remove the tail by pulling only the cradle handle, the ta il would slide on the cradle pads. Parting line was same gap distance top a nd bottom so didn't seem to be in a bind. Had 2 straps holding the tail to the cradle also. Had the front of the aircraft supported so the front didn' t drop when the tail came off. Finally, had one person pulling on the cradl e handle and two pushing rearward on the tail so it wouldn't slide on the p ads. When the tail finally came off the airframe, the exhaust pipe was perf ectly centered in the tail section and came off without any problem.=C2- The manual says two people can take the tail off in about 2.5 hours. Took u s quite a bit longer, about double, for me and two other people. Would anyo ne have any advise or guidance for the next time? Thanks for your input. Tony ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message l29-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/L29-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/l29-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/l29-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.