Nose wheel is on
Time to get the nose wheel on it. My first glance at the washers specified for the axle, both under the head of the bolt and nut, didn’t compute. There are three washers that are stacked up on each side of the axle that provide a sliding outside bushing surface and retain the wheel pant bracket. This is one of those little tiny things throughout the build that periodically amazes me that Van actually came up with to begin with. So very simple yet so effective and easy to construct. The wheel is a very tight fit in the fork. It required just a bit of force to spread the fork to get the wheel in. I did the wheel pant bracket modifications as described in the plans. I looked at the instructions for the first time in a long time. There is a lot of useless text on this nose wheel. I kind of set the instructions aside (after reading quickly through them) and just built what I saw. I lifted the front of the fuselage by the engine hook and slid the assembly on with some washers and the nut. Woohoo, rocket science huh.
I need to get a spring scale in order to set the breakout force of the pivot nut and nose wheel fork. Once I’ve done that I can drill the gear leg for another cotter pin. Next on to main brake lines and wheel pants.
