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toe-in

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frank.goodnight(at)att.ne
Guest

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:32 am Post subject: toe-in

Hi all



Too cold here in the valley to do much of anything except set in the  

house and whine about the weather.--no heat in the shop-.



I put a 3/4 windshield on my firestar but still don't enjoy flying  

when it's below 50F.



Started mounting the steel gear legs  and large wheels and tires --a  

la Larry Cotrell-- , I've had them for about a year , too lazy to put  

them on.



It is a fairly large project what with adapting the A/C wheels to the  

little matco brakes etc. also mounting a maule tail wheel.



  Bent and straightened the aluminium ones often enough  that it's  

time to change.



My question is-- Anyone know what is a good toe in for a firestar 2 ?



Frank Goodnight

cold in Brownsville ,TX

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John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:46 am Post subject: toe-in

> My question is-- Anyone know what is a good toe in for a firestar 2 ?

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 Frank Goodnight


	




Frank G/Gang:



When it comes to toe in, like a lot of things on our Kolbs, I believe it is 

a matter of dealers choice.



Several things to remember when setting up main gear:



1 - Because of the design and material, there will be some slop in the 

installation.



2 - When brakes are applied, the mains will tend to twist the legs and toe 

in.



I set mine up with just a tad of toe in.  How much is a tad?  Not much. 

Just enough to realize it is not neutral or toe out.



I have been pretty lucky and never suffered from adverse tire wear.  My 

buddy, John Williamson, used to scrub the tread off his tires in a short 

time.  However, the gear legs on the Kolbra were much, much longer than the 

gear legs Brother Jim came up with on my MKIII.  Total length of my legs is 

24" with 18" exposed and 6" inside the gear leg socket.  I don't get near 

the twist and flex a standard MKIII leg gets.



I'm pretty much confined to the house.  Beautiful clear blue sky and 23F. 

Was 17F when I got up this morning.  Too dad gummed cold for the Heart of 

Dixie.



john h

mkIII

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_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

zeprep251(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 7:45 am Post subject: toe-in

Frank,

  If you pulled your plane into a trailer often,a little toe-in becomes a lot of toe out when going backward,and it gets hard to pull like that.So I tried for 0 when setting it up and it still handled fine.

 G.Aman

 

   

 

  

   

 

   

 

  --

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frank.goodnight(at)att.ne
Guest

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:53 am Post subject: toe-in

Thanks to every one that answered my toe-in question . Looks like zero it is .



Frank Goodnight

do not archive

On Jan 9, 2010, at 9:39 AM, zeprep251(at)aol.com (zeprep251(at)aol.com) wrote:

[quote]  Frank,

  If you pulled your plane into a trailer often,a little toe-in becomes a lot of toe out when going backward,and it gets hard to pull like that.So I tried for 0 when setting it up and it still handled fine.

 G.Aman

 

  

 

 

  

 

  

 

 --

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John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: toe-in

Not trying to be argumentative, but want to toss  out one more thing about main gear alignment on Kolbs.

  

 Main gear legs on a Kolb do not have much torsional  rigidity.  They twist very easily, especially when braking.  Under  braking, if the main gear are set straight, no toe-in or toe-out, the legs will  twist allowing the main gear to go toe-out, placing more spreading load on the  gear legs.  On grass, this doesn't affect handling, but on pavement, it is  another story.

  

 I little tiny bit of toe-in assist the main gear  legs in holding up the aircraft, keeping them from bending more than when  dealing with toe-out, especially a FS with a heavier than average pilot and a  load of gear to boot.

  

 My mkIII will spread the gear on pavement if I push  her backwards.  Luckily, I don't have to do that very often.

  

 If Kolbs had main gear built like the front end on  my old Dodge truck, we could go with the wheels neutral.

  

 Not trying to change Frank's mind, but sharing what  I have learned over the years about Kolbs may prevent heart ache down the  road.

  

 john h

 mkIII

  

  

 [quote]   ---

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_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

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