My original intent was to write a posting about landing gear inspection and maintenance. Since almost all landing gear maintenance requires that the plane be raised enough to remove the weight from the gear, I thought that we should discuss that first. The PQ-8 maintenance manual addresses using saw horses to support the aircraft, but doesn’t really get into some of the issues you should consider when jacking a Cadet. Here’s the way I do it:
1. Use really strong, stable saw horses. Some landing gear maintenance requires getting in and out of the plane numerous times. I’ve attached a photo of mine. I haven’t seen any store-bought ones that I would trust. Every joint on mine is glued as well as either bolted or screwed together with deck screws.
2. I use an aircraft jack stand to support the tail. This makes it easy to level the plane on the horses. Place about 50 lb weight on the horizontal stab to hold it down on the stand.
3. I use a Harbor Freight engine hoist, connected by a rope to the engine mount at the firewall, to lift the plane so that the saw horses can be placed under the wings.
4. Be sure that the aircraft is sitting level when you lower it onto the saw horses. Lower it very slowly so that you can be certain that all weight is centered on the bottom of the main spar. You don’t want to damage a rib or the plywood skin.
5. The PQ-8 manual suggests placing a sandbag between the saw horses and the main spars. I’ve tried that and found that it causes too much pressure on the adjoining skin/fabric/ribs. I just covered the top of my horses with carpeting. This prevents localized damage to the spar area and if you’ve leveled the plane properly, doesn’t spread any load to the areas in front of and behind the spar.
If anyone has another way of raising their plane, please give us some suggestions.
