Landing gear mod for my Dynam C-188 AGwagon

I really like this plane but its construction gear means that I constantly bend the screws that hold the landing gear in place. The back part of the screw, nearest the head, is completely unsupported as it runs through the foam. Pushing backwards on the wheels – for example, during a hard landing – would inevitably bend the screws. I was planning on copying a mod by RCGroup’s gabe221, using carbon fiber tubes and solderless electrical connectors, but I was worried about CF’s relative inflexibility (and cost.)

So I decided to give it a go using “poor man’s carbon fiber,” i.e. bamboo. My larger bamboo skewers were the perfect size to fit one size of electrical connector. I cut and glued the skewers into a ‘V’ shape which I jammed into a larger connector. I epoxied everything in place, then painted the whole thing silver to try and match the stock landing gear.

I had to “ditch in the weeds” today and, for the first time, didn’t bend the screws. So far, so good.

I started with some test fitting to confirm that the skewers were, indeed, long enough to work for what I had in mind.

testfit

I glued the skewers together in a ‘V’, then epoxied everything in place.structure1

Next, I painted the whole assembly shiny silver to match the plane’s aluminum gear.finished2

finished1

This entry was posted in Custom & Modified. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *