7.1 Nose Gear Door Installation

This entry is part 17 of 39 in the series 07 - Landing Gear

The Nose Gear Doors are provided as a single assembly.  They will eventually be cut into two separate doors.

Earlier, I laminated many pieces of fiberglass to create the stock that the hinges would be made from.  These hinges are basically a “J-hinge” which are similar to the hinge arms used in doors and trunks of cars. They allow a form-fitting piece to swing away from the body without rubbing against it.

To install the doors, first they are bonded to the opening with auto-body filler (Bondo) to temporarily but firmly hold them in position while the hinges are positioned and permanently bonded into place.

Nose gear doors held in place with Bondo.

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Next, the hinges are aligned with lengths of all-thread and then the hinges are bonded to the gear door with an epoxy/cabo mix.

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Once the epoxy cures, the all thread is removed that then eight tabs (two for each hinge arm) that I cut out of fiberglass layups are used to create the fuselage side of the hinges are bonded to the fuselage. These tabs are custom fitted to the fuselage.  I numbered them to keep track of where they go and put a dot on the forward faces side. Once these cure, then the nose gear door can be removed and cut into two pieces, and the hinge arms and tabs can receive fiberglass layups to make them permanent.

Nose gear door (still one piece) with the tabs glued    in position.

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Close up of the rear portion of the door, hinge arms and tabs.

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