---------------------------------------------------------- Lightning-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Fri 01/21/11: 3 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 08:27 AM - Re: Removable stick option? (Harry Weber) 2. 10:35 AM - Re: Wheel shimmy - solutions? (N1BZRich@AOL.COM) 3. 03:56 PM - Removable stick option? (EAFerguson@AOL.COM) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 08:27:45 AM PST US From: Harry Weber Subject: Re: Lightning-List: Removable stick option? Nick: My kit is being shipped the last week of February. I am definitely interested in purchasing this option. My Glasair had this and it would have been impossible to get under the panel without it. GreenLandings is handling the kit. Thanks for your follow up. Harry Weber ----- Original Message ----- From: drussel@wbsnet.org Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 12:25:59 AM Subject: RE: Lightning-List: Removable stick option? sdJasdssddcksdsd,sd I just noticed thss that you are from Kansas. I live in Garden City and am going to Sheblyville to pick up my new LS-1 next week. I looked at the removible stick option but instead decided to have move the stick as far forward as possible (good for a fat old man.) My wife and I are presently in our winter home in Port Isabel, TX, which is just accross the bay from the South Padre island resort area. I am a relatively new pilot with just 600 hours pic. Just sold by Beech Sierra due to medical issues.s. Tell me more about your plane, maybe we can get together sometime. Gary Drussel N125 GD > Nick, > If we are not too far along on my build, I'd be interested in this option. > Hope you had a good Christmas vacation. > > Best Regards, > Jack > > Jack Gonzenbach > Heart of America Aviation LLC > 12906 W 122nd St > Overland Park, KS 66213 > (913) 890-3052 > jgonzenbach@flyhoaa.com > _____ > > From: owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com > [mailto:owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of > flylightning > Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2011 3:07 PM > To: lightning-list@matronics.com > Subject: Lightning-List: Removable stick option? > > Group, > > This is in regards to Bill's mention about a removable stick option. I > thought I would start another post about it. > How many people would like to see this? It is certainly something that our > welding shop could make, it would be easy to retrofit and could be an > option > at initial purchase of a kit. > > If you are building a kit and had not flown or touched the sticks yet as > far > as construction goes, we could take it in exchange for credit towards the > other stick. Not sure of a cost but give me a week and I will. > Those who are flying would have to buy new, but I can find out how much to > change your sticks, but I think a new one will be cheaper after shipping > it > back and forth and cutting it up an such. > > This will be initially to the Kit owners only. I will have to do > supplemental testing to the control sticks for the SLSAs, but that should > not take to long. > > Please let me know thru the List or my email and if we have got more than > 1 > or 2 people who want it will make it happen. > > Nick Otterback > Arion Aircraft LLC > > ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 10:35:56 AM PST US From: N1BZRich@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Lightning-List: Wheel shimmy - solutions? Hi Bill, Your question on what others have done to solve wheel shimmy really points out two areas of improvement that I think we need for the Lightning community. Obviously the first is the wheel shimmy itself, and I'll mention a few things below on that, but the second issue is one that I think would greatly benefit the entire Lightning community when seeking info on any issue or concern. And that would be some sort of a searchable index for the past Lightning newsletters. If you had that capability available to you now, all you would have had to do would be to type in wheel shimmy and all past references to wheel shimmy that had ever been published in our newsletter would help you research what the possible causes are and what others have done to work the issue. And there have been lots written about wheel shimmy in numerous past issues. Yes, we do have an index, but not being searchable, you can spend a lot of time looking over the entire index to find all the issues that have mentioned it. So, here is yet another request for help for the newsletter. Surely someone out there has the computer programing knowledge to develop a searchable index for our newsletter. I'm sure the Lightning factory and the new Newsletter editor, John Jenkins, would be happy to have that capability and it would benefit the entire Lightning community. OK, now to say a few things about wheel shimmy based on my memory of things I have done and things I remember putting in past newsletters that other Lighting builders and flyers have sent in. To start, we are only talking about main gear wheel shimmy. The Lightning does not have any issues with nose wheel shimmy. If there has been one or two instances of a nose wheel shimmy, it is a rare occurrence based on that particular airplane's specific problem. But main wheel shimmy has been noticed by a lot of the Lightnings out there, but the shimmy is not limited to Lightnings. It has also been seen on RVs and any airplane that has the round rod gear legs, and the tapered gear legs seem to be worse than the non tapered gear legs. And speaking of gear legs, another variable is the toe in or toe out setting of the gear axle set up alignment. Malcolm mentioned this and I feel certain that it is one of the biggest factors in not having shimmy - when setting up your alignment, set it straight - zero toe in or out. I am pretty sure that is now how the factory guys set the gear legs. Another thing to note is that the shimmy only occurs if you routinely fly off of paved runways. There is no wheel shimmy on grass or dirt runways that I have heard of and I have never experienced shimmy when I have landed on grass. So one of the factors is the runway surface. I even noticed a difference when landing on black top verses a paved runway. The black top asphalt runway would always tend to be worse for shimmy, at least that is my experience. Tire pressure is another big thing. After extensive experimenting - 28 psi seems to be the best that I have found. For all weights - airplane at gross, or airplane very light when landing - the 28 psi is the best for me. The stiffer side wall tires also seem to help, so use the 6 ply tires. And wheel balancing helps. It is sometimes hard to balance the small aircraft wheels, but we have found two solutions. The go kart racking industry has wheel balancing equipment that works great for aircraft wheels and tires. That is what I use. Another possibility is taking your wheels and tires to a cycle shop. Some of them have the ability to balance them. Linda used that approach. As to wheel pant balancing, Dick Clevenger had an article on that some time ago. The idea here is that if the gear leg has even a minor shimmy, then it will get worse if you add weight to the front or rear of the axle. Since most wheel pants are heavier in the aft part, adding weight to the nose of the pant to balance the overall pant as it will be installed, will help that issue. Bill Browns message about using an expansion spring to stiffen up the outside wheel pant bracket certainly sounds like a great trick. Bill, how about some photos and short write up for a future newsletter. I'm sure JJ would appreciate that for the newsletter. So to kind of sum it up, wheel or gear leg shimmy seems to have many factors - Type of gear leg, gear leg/axle alignment, tire pressure, tire type, airplane weight, runway surface, wheel pants, and most probably, black magic. Discussions on all of these things have been in past newsletters, so someone, please come up with a way for us to search the Lightning past issues for this type of info. Of course, this list is another great source of info. Here is where you communicate with the folks flying, experiencing, and solving the issues that we face. Keep up the great work. Blue Skies, Buz In a message dated 1/19/2011 2:17:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, bill@gdsx.com writes: --> Lightning-List message posted by: "Bill Strahan" I've reached the point that the thing bugging me most on 7RW is the wheel shimmy after landing. I've been putting it off while addressing other things, but it's now at the top of the list. So, can I get some feedback from people who have solved theirs and exactly how they did it? I've read about wood stiffeners on the landing gear, and replacing the tires with higher-priced and quality tires. I'd like to hear all the solutions before I decide what to do next. Bill Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=327595#327595 ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 03:56:19 PM PST US From: EAFerguson@AOL.COM Subject: Lightning-List: Removable stick option? I have a removable stick and it's simple - with a little help from Arion. I have a second stick base with the upper stick cut off - courtesy of Nick when there was a used one available. To switch, I remove the aileron bolt, the big nut that holds the fitting on and disconnect the wiring. Reassemble with the spare hub and I'm ready to go. This operation takes about 3 to 4 minutes and requires only two sizes of wrenches.. Can Arion get the stick manufacturer to produce just the base with the aileron bell cranks? Or alternately the base with only a 2" stick base attached - make the stick base a different diameter so a stick will slip over or into the stub. Sorry I don't have a pix, but will take one and post it if anybody needs a visual. 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