G’day everyone, 2023 seems to be going fast, life is busy and I haven’t made a great deal of progress on the Viper project. Lots of tidying up on the Charger, in preparation for road registration have consumed much of my spare time.
I have been spending some time thinking, planning and making a start on the landing gear. I’m getting into slightly heavier engineering territory – drilling, cutting, welding 3mm (1/4 inch) steel box section, etc. Aluminium is so much easier to work with! I’m aiming for something like these:
My version will raise and lower in height, using linear actuators. This will help with transport, movement, setup, etc. Once it’s all setup, I can then raise to the ‘proper’ height for display. The nose gear will also steer/turn to help with maneuvering / setup. With those specs in mind, I really have my work cut out for me creating the real manifestation of the landing gear.
Starting with the rear landing gear strut, I worked out the mounting angle and the mounting point for the linear actuators. Here’s where I’m at so far. The travel is around 30cm or 1 foot.
I need to make the whole unit serviceable, so it can be removed and taken apart, should the actuator need repair or replacement. Still working out exactly how I’m going to do that but some custom brackets and tapped bolts would appear to be the way to go. Later on, I’ll make up some external fascia that can be attached to appear like the original filming prop.
Looking at the wheels, I needed some robust caster wheels and I wanted to go with solid tyres, as the air tube tyres always seem to leak and go flat just when you need them. Not sure of the final weight of the Viper, but I’m estimating a max of around 1000kg (2200lbs), more than likely half of that. I bought some steel hub caster wheels, rated at 60kg each. By my calculations – 10 x 60kg for each rear gear is around 1200kg. Plus 6 x front wheels, rated at 100kg each, is a further 600kg, or total rated capacity of 1800kg, or almost 4000lbs. Should be enough!
I used some 40 x 40mm x 2.5mm square hollow section galvanised steel for the landing gear chassis and 12mm solid round bar axles. These were drilled to allow the caster wheels to be fitted with cotter pins and washers.
With the wheels, these are quite heavy duty platforms.
Two rear and one front wheel platform, ready for the skids to be constructed and fitted. Also need to weld on the frame mounting points.
I’m not sure how I’m going to replicate the curved skid profile in aluminium, but I have a few ideas to try out.
Signing out until next time…
Project Colonial Viper Blog 