1. The biggest improvement was reinstallation of all LG doors. In a prior attempt, I attached the door to the LG via a zip tie. AND the door was attached to the wing via a hinge. This was a failure because as the LG bounced back and forth due the grass runway, the door would gouge the wing and break the hinge connection. I needed the door to not be attached at all to the wing. I came up with the simplest idea after months of thinking...just do it.
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| I used 3/16" ply to fashion these plates that fit between the Robart plastic strut covers and the doors. I epoxied the plate by filing off the paint from the strut covers and removing monokote from the doors. Added a zip tie to hold the plate to the strut cover since I think the joining of those dissimilar materials is the weak point. . |
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| Anyway, it looks good from a few feet away. |
2. Reattaching the nose wheel door was a simple CA job.
3. The nose wheel was steering too much right lately, so I adjusted that.
4. I also ironed down loose covering in a couple spots.
5. The long extension wire to the needle valve fatigued and disappeared for the second or third time, so I replaced that but I expect it to fatigue and sheer at the top of the needle valve once more.
6. Lastly, after flying the other day, I discovered the bottom CA hinge of the rudder was broken. I cut the other two hinges, shaved the remaining stubs flat to the fin and rudder, and installed new Robart point hinges...stronger and better than new.
The T-28 looks almost as good as new again! I HOPE I don't destroy the plane now because that has happened before...spruced a plane up only to crash next time!
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