I changed the small 4" tail wheel on my KR to a larger 6" tail wheel (solid rubber). . That makes the tail wheel farther back a few inches. It now sits about 3 1/2" higher which makes it easier to see over the nose. I know the math doesn't add up but, the new tail wheel I installed I made from a hospital stretcher and it sits higher. The Tractor Supply cap bearing will fit right into the holes and a 1/4" will fit the bearings. It also makes it easier to land and roll out is a lot easier to control.. I am not as likely to ground loop it now. I takes a little more room to turn it around but, at least I can land it now without ground looping it. I am a 2000 hr. pilot but learning to fly a KR is a lot different but I have found that the more you play with it the more you learn.. Tail wheels are a whole different ball game. I now have 10 hours on it and still working out the bugs.
________________________________ From: smwood <smw...@md.metrocast.net> To: kr...@mylist.net Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 10:13 AM Subject: KR> Re: Tri-gear Conversion Dave, I converted N6242 from a conventional retract gear to fixed tri-gear using Diehl fixed mains and nose gear. The large holes in the wing in front of the spar were converted to inspection panels; very useful. The large holes aft of the spar were mostly closed in with foam and glass lay-up. You are correct: After fill, sanding and paint, the cover up is invisible. If you use the RR spring gear, the RR gear legs may be to short to match the nose gear height and steering geometry. The RR spring bar would need to be absolutely latched in the down and locked position; you may not have room under the seat for that setup. The RR gear legs are HUGE flat plates hanging out in the air stream; sort of a speed brake permanently deployed. You will have much difficulty fairing around those wiggly gear legs. On most retract KR-2 there is an aileron control cable running through the area aft of the main spar. You will need to re-route the cable or use more modern control linkages. If you have a spring bar aft of the spar, where are you going to mount the stick? Highly recommend you use the Diehl or similar fixed main gear. Fairings are also available. Sid Wood Tri-gear KR-2 N6242 Mechanicsville, MD, USA smw...@md.metrocast.net -------------------------------------------------------------- The aircraft was issued it's N-Number (N86KR) in 1986, and is in need of 3 things, it seems - wing pins, some avionics replacement, and conversion to tri-gear (personal preference). The pins can be bought from NVAero from what I understand, I've got the avionics I plan to install back home - those are the 'easy' jobs.. The tri-gear conversion seems the most difficult, and has been the subject of much thought & online research, resulting in the following plan (which I'm seeking comments/advice on).... 1) Components would be the original KR2 spring-bar mains, and the Diehl nose gear kit as sold by NVAero. 2) The 'objective' is to convert the plane from taildragger to tri-gear 'in-place', prior to ferrying it from where it is now to my home state. 3) From what I've read here and online, the largest block of time (and largest requirement for jigs/tools/space/etc) in doing this work is the post-conversion re-assembly - which generally is done by flipping the plane and re-glassing the area cut open to gain access to the spar/gear. What I have come up with, is a *possible* process to accomplish this conversion without flipping the plane, by raising it up on jacks, cutting away a rectangular patch of skin (and saving it in-tact for later) to create access to the mains. At this point, the gear could be 'flipped' from the front of the spar to the back, and then the rectangular patch would be re-attached with doublers around the edges (inside the stub wings, not out in the airstream) and Hysol 9309.3 (microbead structural adhesive) for an adhesive and gap filler. Properly done (eg, keeping the patch sucked up tight to the plane while the Hysol cures) it should be just about as strong as the original structure, and once sanded & painted, invisible... Now, I'm not familliar with the specifics of the KR2 design yet (this is a mix of army helo repair techniques, online research, and so on), beyond what I can read online. Apart from a small bit of added weight (from 4 doubler strips and the 9309), do you guys see any issues with this plan? Is it going to create issues with the structure of the stub-wings? Am I going to have trouble cutting out the 'access patch' and separating the glass skin from the rest of the structure (Say, due to the skin being adhered to foam & wood structure, making intact removal of a cut-out section impossible) I'm submitting this for comment, because you guys know alot more about these planes than I do at this point... For all I know, there is a very good reason why everyone flips the plane & does it the 'conventional' way - or maybe it's just that's the way that always comes to mind... I just started from 'assume you cannot flip the bird, what would you do to fix a hole in the bottom (that conveniently happens to expose the spar & landing gear)... _______________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
