bulkheads. We temporarily tack-glued two 55mm
long balsa spacers in between the rails to keep them
square and parallel, while permanently gluing the
rails in place with epoxy and micro-balloons. This
gives enough space in between them for the nose
retract unit (and steering arm), steering servo - and
also a hopper tank or battery pack at the back if you
wish. If you want to fit a 3rd fuel tank between them
at the back, then you can space them a little wider
apart.
Supplied in the kit is a 3mm plywood mounting plate
for the nose steering servo. Adjust the cutout for your
servo, and glue in position between the floor stiffen-
ing rails to suit your steering mechanism.
If you are fitting a single steering pushrod that con-
nects to a sliding attachment on the retract, then
don’t forget to add a small slotted guide on the
pushrod to make sure the nosewheel doesn’t twist
when it retracts - preventing it from coming down
again for landing !
Centre the servo and adjust the linkage length so
that the wheel is straight when the nosegear is in the
‘down’ position. Now retract the gear, making sure
that the wheel stays centred and straight. Take a
scrap of liteply and file a slot it it to suit your pushrod.
Glue it to the side of the floor rail, close to the front
of the pushrod, to keep the linkage in the correct po-
sition when the gear is re-
tracted. This guide will make
sure that the nose wheel stays
centred when retracted, and
therefore comes down every
time for landing, so don’t forget
to install it.
You can box in the top of the
cockpit rails completely, above
the nosewheel, if you wish to
prevent FOD being thrown up
by the nose wheel, and enter-
ing the cockpit area.
Fox Composites Co., Ltd.
3311
(above) Balsa spacers maintain correct
alignment of floor rails while gluing.
(below) Steering servo fits in milled ply
plate, glued between floor rails. There is
plenty of space behind the steering servo
for a hopper or 3rd tank etc.
(above) SpringAir 100/300 series nosegear fixed in position.
Note the small ply guide for the steering linkage that makes
sure the wheel stays vertical when it is retracted.
