On Sep 22, 3:29*pm, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Sep 22, 12:33*pm, Brad wrote:

I'm leaning more and more for a rigid strut...

I strongly recommend against. The rigid gear will apply much stronger
impulses into the structure that supports the undercarriage pivots.
The landing gear support structure is not sized for that. As others
noted, it will work fine until that landing when it doesn't, and then
it will be messy.

The Schreder oleo strut gear is about the best bang for the buck and
for the pound there is in energy storage (springiness) and shock
absorption. When properly assembled and maintained, it is trouble-free
for decades at a time. The parts are either off-the-shelf items, or
things that any decent A&P or TIG welder can fotch up in an afternoon.

As others note, there are good and bad examples in the field. On the
leaky ones I've seen, it's been because things are bent or misaligned
so that the pistons are pre-loaded against the sides of the cylinders,
causing scoring and galling. It's easy to know when its set up right;
when the system is assembled sans O-rings the pistons slide in and out
of the cylinders with no appreciable drag. Also, you must check the
condition of the restraint cable at each annual inspection for fraying
or broken strands.

Thanks, Bob K.

Thanks all for the tip, Wayne, I'll give you a call later this
afternoon.

I just installed the landing gear and retract system in the HP-24, I
did hit the valve with 120 PSI of O2 and it is holding just fine, no
fluid in yet. I am tending to think Bob is right and I'll go ahead and
just go with the shock strut as intended, the gear was holding
pressure after I salvaged it from an HP-18 a few years ago, and that
was after the -18 sat in the trailer for a few decades............I
made the mistake of un-screwing the valve w/o bleeding it
first...............luckily my face wasn't over the valve, and the
ceiling in my shop still has a reminder of what fluid under pressure
does when it is allowed to escape!

Brad

PS..................the HP-24 is all painted
now...................anyone seeing it will be required to not look
too closely at the fuselage, that was a real bugger to sand flat.