Aluminum Wheel & Brake Mod

[uscgairdale]

First I would like to start by saying that just becuase a mod exists I do not necessarily believe that it should be done. I have thought hard about all of the ones that I have done to my Lazair and if I were to restore another one I would, without a doubt, do each of them all again. In my opinion, this new mod is deserving your consideration, especially if you have a two-place since it eliminates one of weakest points of the Lazair.....the wheels.

As of right now I do not have any raw data like the exact weights of the stock wheels and brakes versus the new ones, but a quick "calibrated lift" of the old versus the new says that they are close.

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

THE GOOD: Goodbye plastic wheels! A single place with the wheels properly installed and inflated should work just fine and I would argue probably should not be changed out just for the sake of doing it. They work well, but numerous wheels have been over tightened when bolting them together to form cracks. Combine that with to much tire pressure and it's easy to see how they can blow out. To install these on a series III would be simple since the wing struts do not factor in. That's very good. The Azusa wheels, tires, and tubes are the same size. Yes, that's in diameter and width.

THE BAD: Some modification to the axles will be required since the standard Azusa bearings are 5/8"....more on that later. Using these wheels means that you will most likely have to move away from the stock brakes, however I'm sure that it could be done it you wanted to. Cost...the Azusa wheel/brake kit that I got was about $220 from Aircraft Spruce. The Avid brakes were $70 shipped from some dude on E-Bay.

THE UGLY: Disconnecting the wings! I got around this by using a temporary brace, but I still had to support the weight of the wings. The vertical support and aileron flight controls under the pilot seats all had to be disconnected....the opposite of fun.

More to follow....

Dave

[ozzie]

[89 CHARLIE]

[uscgairdale]

[89 CHARLIE]

[uscgairdale]

[uscgairdale]

[uscgairdale]

[89 CHARLIE]