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steel landing gear and VW

 
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lariardo



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

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:01 pm    Post subject: steel landing gear and VW Reply with 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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slyck(at)frontiernet.net
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:32 pm    Post subject: steel landing gear and VW Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:55 pm    Post subject: steel landing gear and VW Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:17 pm    Post subject: steel landing gear and VW Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:55 pm    Post subject: steel landing gear and VW Reply with quote

[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

PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:49 am    Post subject: Re: steel landing gear and VW Reply with quote

[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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