Dumas Nieuport 28 Landing Gear Modification
After building and flying the Dumas Nieuport 28, I was a bit concerned about its ground handling. I fly the plane from a baseball diamond. Standing on second base I have a two runway intersection and four clear departures and approaches. This aircraft doesn’t need much room to take off or land in but I like to hold it on the ground with a little down elevator for a more scale looking take off. By just easing the elevator back to neutral it lifts off beautifully and floats nicely in ground effect as the air speed increases and climbs away. The problem is, this infield isn’t Fenway Park, and though it is well kept for a small school ball field, it’s far from smooth. I was noticing how jarring it seemed on an airframe weighing 11.75 ounces and built from a pile of sticks, and I was thinking it might not hold up to the terrain too long.
I have modified a lot of the kit to be as close to the original design plans as I could already. Torque rod ailerons, pull pull rudder and elevator. I was intrigued with the design and the genius of its simplicity. Though I had looked briefly into the landing gear design, but it didn’t hit me until I saw how my plane was handling on the ground. Again, the genius of its simplicity struck me, and how simple it would be to duplicate it on to the existing landing gear.
1) I cut another .062 wire the same length as the original axle
2) Then I
...Continue Reading
