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steel landing gear and VW

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lariardo

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1
Location: mountain home, ar

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject: steel landing gear and VW

I would appreciate feed back on people who have switched to the steel  

landing gear for a MKIII from the aluminum legs.  I don't know if I  

can justify the price.  I would also like updates on the vw  

conversions and how they are working out.



larry duncan

lariardo(at)centurytel.net

97 mkIII

582

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slyck(at)frontiernet.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:32 pm Post subject: steel landing gear and VW

Larry, the steel legs would be good if you want a little more cabin  

elevation.  Otherwise the aluminum ones are just as good

They will absorb a lot of force before bending and will limit main  

structural damage.

I have a couple slightly bent (not my doing) aluminum legs that I may  

someday install with the bend aiming down for some extra clearance.

BB



On 6, Oct 2008, at 5:00 PM, larry duncan wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <lariardo(at)centurytel.net>



 I would appreciate feed back on people who have switched to the  

 steel landing gear for a MKIII from the aluminum legs.  I don't  

 know if I can justify the price.  I would also like updates on the  

 vw conversions and how they are working out.



 larry duncan

 lariardo(at)centurytel.net

 97 mkIII

 582

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NeilsenRM(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject: steel landing gear and VW

Larry



I have the old style steel gear legs. I purchased them used at a bit of 

savings. These old gear legs are the solid spring steel legs that old Kolb 

sold. They are very springy. They do a real good job of absorbing bumps on 

rough runways. They don't raise the plane as much as the newer legs. They 

are a bit heaver and you have to land carefully or they will launch you back 

into the air on landing.



I also have a VW on my Kolb MKIIIC. I now have 265 hours on the plane with 

all VW versions. I think about 65 hours with the latest redrive. I'm very 

happy. The engine/redrive runs very smooth and just doesn't give me any 

trouble. The series 3 redrive that I have now requires alot of work to align 

properly but once aligned only needs occasional belt retensioning. Newer 

models of the redrive are being lighted and lowered as Valley continues to 

refine the redrive. As I have said many times before the VW engine with this 

redrive has turned out to be a almost identical replacement for the Rotax 

912 (80 HP) with a major cost savings. Reliability Is still yet to be proven 

but at the very least will be much better than the 2 stroke options.



Cooling on the ground is still a concern so you have to watch you CHT temps. 

For my flying it isn't a issue but if I were flying at a airport were I had 

to wait in a long line for takeoff it could be. It appears that at taxi 

speeds it will stay cool but sitting at stop it will over heat. It will be 

interesting to hear from the guys that are putting the Nikasil cylinders on 

their VWs. I'm told they transfer heat 4 time better so this might resolve 

this issue. They are 10lbs. lighter and bigger for more power so they are 

worth extra cost anyway.



If you haven't read the article I wrote I ask that you do. If you want I can 

sent you the text off list.



Rick Neilsen

Redrive VW powered MKIIIC



---

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smlplanet(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject: steel landing gear and VW

I have the steel legs and wouldn't want to go back to the aluminum legs. I 

like the plane sets higher and wheels are several inchs farther forward. I 

do off field lands in the back country which can be a little rough and have 

not had a problems with them.   I do have a set of spare aluminum just in 

case I should need them as a back up until the others can be repaired or 

replaced.

--------------------------------------------------

From: "larry duncan" <lariardo(at)centurytel.net>

Sent: 2008-10-06 17:00

To: <kolb-list(at)matronics.com>

Subject: steel landing gear and VW



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 I would appreciate feed back on people who have switched to the steel 

 landing gear for a MKIII from the aluminum legs.  I don't know if I  can 

 justify the price.  I would also like updates on the vw  conversions and 

 how they are working out.



 larry duncan

 lariardo(at)centurytel.net

 97 mkIII

 582

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lcottrell

Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 1494
Location: Jordan Valley, Or

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:55 pm Post subject: steel landing gear and VW

[quote]   Subject: Re: steel landing    gear and VW

   



   --> Kolb-List message posted by: robert bean <slyck(at)frontiernet.net (slyck(at)frontiernet.net)>



Larry,    the steel legs would be good if you want a little more cabin     

elevation.  Otherwise the aluminum ones are just as good

They will    absorb a lot of force before bending and will limit main  

structural    damage.



   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    

   I have to disagree with your statement about limiting    damage with the aluminum legs. My personal experience has been just the    opposite. My first problem was with the old style Firestar leg (much    smaller) a hard landing bent the leg outward causing the tire to drag me in a    left turn which resulted in spanning a ditch with the cage, but the gear legs    hit the other bank. I had to strip the entire cage and have the cage    straightened. The next was a off field landing in a camouflaged boulder field    which broke a gear leg just above the axle leaving a forward pointing gear leg    that flipped me upside down. Not much damage to the cage, but I had to recover    the whole airplane. The last was a broken axle housing ? that again left me    with a forward facing gear leg that dug into the ground all the way up to the    bottom of the cage. This one caused the gear leg sockets to be bent back    towards the tail, which again required the repair of tubes and a recover job.    All of which could have been prevented by some good steel gear legs. If    the gear legs pointed backwards then I could agree that damage would be    limited by the softer gear legs, but the way they are pointed the slightest    failure of the gear legs will probably result in a lot of damage. In summary    it is going to take a hell of a hard bounce to equal the damage caused by    a broken alum leg. I finally decided to beef up my landing gear in every way    that I could because I now believe that will save me some work and    headaches.  Yes my Firestar sits a little higher, but it makes it look a    whole lot better in my opinion. I don't find it to be uncomfortable high    however. 

    

   Just my opinion, yours may differ,

   Larry C, Oregon  

      

[b]

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geoffthis

Joined: 04 Jun 2006
Posts: 6

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:49 am Post subject: Re: steel landing gear and VW

[quote="lcottrell"] 	  Quote: 	
		     Subject: Re: steel landing    gear and VW

   

 Yes my Firestar sits a little higher, but it makes it look a    whole lot better in my opinion. I don't find it to be uncomfortable high    however. 

    

   Just my opinion, yours may differ,

   Larry C, Oregon  

      

[b] 	




Larry,



I'm getting ready to rebuild my Firestar and am wondering where did you purchase and how much are steel legs?



Thanks 



Geoff Thistlethwaite

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