Need help on how to attach landing gear on a plane

Hi Guys

I purchased this Beagle B121 plane a while back and am In the process of restoring it, after sitting idle for many many years.
It came with no rear landing gear set, and as per the manual I have the right size gear for it. Its running the ASP 52 engine, which has barely seen any fuel.
It runs great.

Can someone please tell me how do I properly attach the landing gear on this plane? Please see photos attached.
I think by factory, the aluminum profile was just screwed in into the balsa wing, but this seems and feels too weak to me.
So my questions are

1. Do need to bend the flat area of aluminum that goes against where the two wings join, since that area is curved (dihedral)? Or do I use packing wood and stay away from bending the landing gear aluminum profile?

2. Are 3 screws in balsa really going to be enough for the undercarriage to be strong and sturdy?

3. Should I cut the covering film away and apply some epoxy and then screw it in?

4. Should I install blind nuts from the top side of the wing, but this would require cutting into the film from the top of the wing, or making large holes in order to insert the blind nuts?

Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated.

Also I hope I have posted this in the right category on this forum.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, thanks very much for your reply.

To me it also didn't look right, and though it would be a good idea to ask.

In saying this, the manual states exactly that, to bolt on the undercarriage directly onto the wing. I have attached as screenshot of that page of the manual.

I am not sure I fully understand your suggestion, the technicality I mean.
So cut the 1/4 ply in the middle, so it folds over dihedral, epoxy it to the wing (remove the covering in that area of course), then use shims in between the ply and the aluminum flat piece that is to be screwed onto the ply?

Is that correct?

Many thanks!

This being an ARF kit, there would be ply mounting plates inside the centre of the wing to mount the main gear too, the manual pic looks to show a bend in the centre of the landing gear, so mounting the gear as shown should be as it should be. Now, if I were mounting the gear in this wing, I would remove the top centre covering and balsa skin to both strengthen the ply mounting plates and use screws with nuts and washers, 10mm self-tappers look to me as very under engineered.

Just my opinion.

Dave

There is probably some reinforcement in the wing to give the mounting screws something to "bite".

If you do a web search for Beagle B121 one of the links that shows up is to a You Tube video of the R/C model. That video didn't show much more than the model taxiing, however there was a link to another video. That video does show the landing gear installed at around 1 minute, 50 seconds into the video. The gear in the video is mounted as shown in the manual page you posted.

Here is a direct link to the video that shows the landing gear installed.....

The Making of Beagle B121 | RC Plane (2 min 47 sec)

Is it the strongest possible method to attach the gear, probably not. Then again, there is something to be said for a mounting method that allows the gear to seperate from the model, without completely destroying the models structure in a less than optimal landing.

I agree that it looks less than ideal. But I would agree that there is plywood under there. Otherwise it wouldn't even survive soft landings.

This might be one of the times where the small screws act as a safety fuse. As in better to rip away the mains during a harsh arrival rather than pull out a big piece of the wing's underside. So I'm not sure I'd change it. Or at least if you were to do something to add "T" nuts then be sure to use a small'ish size and then use nylon screws so the screws break off instead of the belly being pulled out.

I like the melting in idea. But what size screws are you using?

I'm wondering if for smaller sizes, like No's 6 or 8 that melting a slot might be a little tight. I think this is where it might be handy to have some 1/4 inch or so holes in the upper side where they are buried inside the fuselage and over the screw ends. This would permit using a screw driver into the pre-cut slot to wind the screws back out. Or up into the wing cavity and then worry them out through the access holes.

I had this exact same model and flew it several years before selling it on.
Used an OS .40 and it was most suitable.

The gear had a slight bend in the centre to conform to the dihedral.
There’s a ply plate inside the wing.
I installed the gear exactly per the manual and never had any problems in all the years I flew it.

BTW I installed a new larger rudder per a scale drawing I had. The one supplied represents only the prototype aircraft while the production version had a larger rudder that looked much nicer.

It was a lovely model in every aspect.

Hello and thank you all for your prompt replies.

Never thought about a reinforcement piece of plywood already in there, which makes sense.

If I was to bold the undercarriage with nylon bolts, I am guessing I will need the blind nuts installed? Or screw in the nylons straight into plywood plate?

Thank you

Thank you for leaving a comment regarding the same model you had.

If you look at the first photos and photo of the plane I posted, does the rudder look like a prototype model on mine too? Looks large enough to me.
This plane came with a ASP 46 two stroke. I am thinking about putting 61 four stroke on it.

The rudder you have is what came with the original kit. No problem with that.
When I said prototype/serial production I meant of the real plane.

Google the real plane and you’ll see the prototype had a rudder like you have on the model, but later production aircraft had a larger rudder that to me just looked
simply nicer hence the only reason I changed. The prototype rudder has its TE swept back, the production version has its TE less swept.

Mine was powered with an ancient OS .40 and it was certainly enough. I didn’t feel any lack of power. Lands nice and slow too. A .61 four stroke engine would suit it well.

On the main landing gear attachment… IMO you’re overthinking this. I used the small self tapping screws provided and never had any problems.

Found this in my scale database to clarify the differences in the rudders: