Today was all about the landing brake.
I had to grind out a divot immediately above the middle bolt that attaches the landing brake hinge (LB24) to the fuselage (LB23) since the bolt head was keeping the landing brake from closing all the way. This goes back to my earlier statement that even though the bolt holes were drilled at the centerline dimension-wise of the hinge, when the hinge is angled back the way it is, it moves the bolt line up. This was the cause behind the middle bolt hitting the landing brake. However, a little improvisation took care of the issue.
After I got the hinge closing issue resolved, I made up a template of the electric actuator body and then mocked up the landing brake actuator. As I was extending the actuator in and out I noticed the end of it, where it attaches to the landing brake bracket (LB18), was twisted just a bit so that all the bolt holes would not align. That took me offline for a bit as I had to figure out how to get the bolt hole on the end of the actuator arm straight again. I attempted to call the manufacturer but couldn’t get a hold of them. I tried Jack, but no joy. I then looked at the exploded view in the PDF online. As I methodically & slowly took the actuator apart, I realized that the actuator arm tip could be turned hard against a phenolic plate. That fixed it!
I cut the actuator hole in the fuselage a little wider & longer and shaped it to the outline of the main actuator body (not just the arm) since the entire actuator had to be able to get thru the hole.
After I got the actuator hole squared away, I spent a fair amount of time mocking up the actuator angle, position and the opening/closing of the landing brake door.
After figuring out the proper location of the seat back landing brake actuator mount, I cut & drilled the holes in the front seat back.
I micro’d the holes & floxed on the mounting bracket. I pre-pregged a 2-ply BID layup measuring 3.8″ x 8.3″ and glassed the bracket onto the rear of the front seat back. I then peel plied it and weighed it down.
