Airfix Swift main u/c leg cover query

[John R]

The Airfix kit comes with two options for the main u/c leg covers. One in one piece for the gear-up version and the other in two pieces for the gear-down version.

One is shorter than the other. Why is this so? It has caused some head scratching as the version I am building (an F4) has part of the a/c registration decal on the cover and this means that some of it will go missing.

The only explanation I can think of is that as the u/c is extended the top part, due to the positioning of the hinge, goes UP into the u/c bay.

Can anyone please shed some light on this matter?

John

 

[72modeler]

Off the top of my pointed head, when the a/c is on the ground, the oleos are compressed, thus the struts would be shorter; when the undercart is retracted, the oleos extend due to the weight being off of them, and the struts would be longer; I think that's why the gear up and down fairing  doors are different lengths, although they shouldn't be, as the fairing doors  move with the struts, one over the other, so the doors themselves should be the same size in either position. I don't have the kit, so I can only guess why Airfix did the doors that way.

Mike

[Paul Thompson]

I had a look at the undercarriage photos on the Thunder and Lightnings site, and John is right, the outboard part of the door does poke into the wheel bay. Presumably Airfix have tooled it to meet the edge of the bay instead, for whatever reason. So a part of the reg on the door will be hidden if it runs far enough up it. Don't have one so can't say anything further.

 

Paul.

[John R]

Thank you Paul.

None of the photos on the Thunder & Lightnings site and the Britmodeller walkaround show it quite as clearly as I would have liked but it does appear to poke into the bay. However it does appear that it is only the very top of the panel, beyond the notch, that goes in.  Airfix have trimmed off a bit too much maybe due to getting the right u/c length to give the correct 'sit' angle. We are only talking about less than 1mm, not enough to get excited about but it does explain why the piece of decal that I cut to place on the panel was too long.

John

[CJP]

There are some nice photos including main gear in the BM Walkaround -

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234982201-supermarine-swift/

CJP

[71chally]

6 hours ago, CJP said:

There are some nice photos including main gear in the BM Walkaround -

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234982201-supermarine-swift/

CJP

They are very good, I would interpret them as a small top portion of the door disappearing into the wing.

[72modeler]

@CJP First off, thanks for reminding us about the walkaround! After looking at the photos of the main landing gear, I offer the following observations, for what they might be worth. Hoping I have guessed correctly!

 

In the photos, it appears there is a collar fitted over the oleo, which looks like it is compressed all the way- this is commonly done on static display aircraft. It also appears that the upper strut fairing door is attached to the strut right above the oleo, which means the strut door is fixed and doesn't move, but the oleo and the forked section of the strut can. Seeing that there is a slot in the lower part of the strut fairing door, I think this allows the oleo and lower strut section to move up and down as needed along the lower part of the fairing door.

Mike