LANDING GEAR - GENERAL

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Flap/Gear Warning Mod  Developed by senior Swift mechanic Buzz Winslow
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Help Prevent Gear Up Landings
Click above to go see a simple modification that can prevent being unable to lower the landing gear.
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BUSHINGS...
From: ejectr@javanet.com (Bob Runge)
Hi Jim:
Are the bushings in the landing gear tourque knee scissors bronze or steel? Mine are sloppy and I want to get some replacement material before I tear them open. I'm assuming the ID is 1/4" seeing they use a 1/4" screw. I plan on replacing the bolts, also. Can I go to stainless or should I stick with Cad plated?

Bob,
There is a bolt and bushing kit available from Swift Parts. Its not real cheap, but much better than making your own bushings, and scrounging up the right bolts. Every Swift owner should have one of these on hand, and replace the bushings and bolts as required. The gear should not be too tight. Many times inexperienced mechanics have replaced every bolt and bushing in the gear, and then found it was just the same as before. A hint - most 1/4" AN bolts measure several thousandths under .250, like .246 A close tolerance bolt measures exactly .250 A NAS bolt will measure several thousandths more than an AN bolt, usually .248, and is cheaper and easier to obtain than a close tolerance bolt. Before changing a bolt, remove it and check it with a micrometer. If its obviously worn, or measures less than .246 replace it. Sometimes, just snugging it up or adding a washer will produce results. I have some stainless NAS bolts that are just the right size for several locations in the Swift gear, so I use them when necessary. I also keep a bolt and bushing kit around, if the bushings are changed, sometimes it is necessary to try several bolts to get one that fits just right. If the 1/4" holes in the aluminum lower fork are worn they can be bushed. A local machine shop will have to do this, there are are not bushings for that location in the kit. Ditto for the steel lugs in the outer cylinder.  --  Jim

LANDING GEAR TORQUE LINKS...
From: Eddie Shields (WVSWIFT@aol.com)
Subject: Re: gear torque links
Jim,
I am rebushing my gear torque links scissors). I have the aluminum kind and I'm replacing them with the steel type. Does the top link go on the forward side where the botton link joins it?? I can't tell by pictures because everyone I look at are different. The steel ones are slightly curved on one side, which way do they fit the gear? I have the adel gear with steel type scissors. Service bulletin 34 says some swift owners have installed torque knees p/n 64a40 on adel gear. If that was done a p/n 64A31 stop must be installed. Its the predrilled and tapped one. I dont have that one installed. Do you know where I can get two of them?? Thanks -- Eddie N2403B

Eddie,
Why? The steel scissors is much heavier. Sure its just a few ounces, but you know, a few ounces here, a few ounces there....... If you insist, I believe Joe has those stops at Swift Parts. I have to figure out the assembly procedure every time, its not something I can remember! I believe the left and right are different. The steel scissors usually needs a little grinding to permit full travel, otherwise the links bind up before the strut bottoms. Stops for the steel links can be fabricated by using a 3/8" OD, .150 ID Spacer a little less than an inch long, tap the ID to a 10/32 thread and grind to fit.  --  Jim

HOW TO MAKE AN ADEL GEAR FORK FIT AN ELI...
Jim Montague (monty747@aol.com) writes:
I have taken Adel forks, welded up the keeper bolt hole, (3/8”, I think) and had my machine shop owner friend bore them out for the ELI strut dia. (-.001-.002) The air valve can be located as original with more machining, or re-located near the top of the strut, (like it should have been in the first place) I don’t have any ELI parts, or know of any, but I have some Adel forks.

TIRES AND TOE-IN... (3699)
From: Sam Klippert (sam@olypen.com)
Subject: Tires
Howdy, Howdy;  I have a few questions and your "THE ANSWER MAN". So, I am smart enough to ask for help before I totally disassemble the plane. I have the smaller tires 15X600X6. I've always had 30 psi in them, and I noticed a lot of wear on the right inside tire. I talked to Bill Shepherd (he has the small tires also) and he said to keep 50 psi. The wear doesn't look like a place that the tire even touches the ground, but it wasn't like that in Jan. 40 hrs. ago. (could have been the low psi )??? Anyway how do I check the toe in or out. and what should it be. I was thinking to just match the left side.-- Sam

Sam:
Those tires need 50 psi. That's one reason I don't like 'em! Unless you make perfect landings every time, it's CRASH! The smaller volume, plus the higher pressure makes for a very hard tire. Yep, sure could have (been low psi causing the wear). Get a piece of pipe at the hardware store about 10 ft long, that will fit inside the axles. If one gear is off it will be evident. They tell me the Swifts were "neutral" - aimed straight ahead, and the Buckaroos were toed out. I don't know but it sounds reasonable to me. Small adjustments can be made with washers at the scissors. If its way off, due to a gear box being misaligned, the gear box ("bulkhead" in the parts book) will need to be repositioned and some re-riveting done. This is best done reskinning the skin over the wheelwell. Good luck and if I can amplify this write back! -- Jim

ARE LANDING GEAR PROBLEMS A "RIGHT OF PASSAGE" FOR EVERY SWIFT OWNER? (5299)
Having landing gear problems with your Swift falls under two categories. Those that have and those that will. It has been said by many experienced Swifters that the landing gear is the most maintenance intensive part of the Swift airframe. The following sequence of postings on the Yahoo! Globe Temco Swift Club site by Canadian Swifter Yves Starreveld <ystarrev@julian.uwo.ca> illustrates one such landing gear problem and the troubleshooting involved...
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Apr 29 1999 11:14PM EDT
Went for a couple of night circuits tonight (bad things _always_ seem to happen at night). On the final one, had a slight bounce, at which point both the red and green gear indicator lights came on. Went around, and was unable to cycle the gear - I know, should have just left them down and landed-. By selecting gear down and running the flaps, got the red light to turn off. Wound (the emergency handcrank) 53 times to be sure and landed without incident. I'll go through the wiring by light of day tomorrow.

Apr 30 1999 5:34PM EDT
Well, tracked through the landing gear wiring for a couple of hours today. Learned lots, but still no gear function. With the plane on jacks, the gear indicator shows steady green. Selecting gear up has no effect, other than a click of the landing gear solenoid. The 4 up and down microswitches all work correctly. The solenoid works fine. There is no current on the input side of the solenoid, though. I traced this wire back into the wiring box to the bus bar, and then up into the multiconnector, where I can't follow it any longer. Is the lead going to the solenoid (not the switching lead) also switched itself? Or does it just go straight back to the breaker. Clearly I am ordering up the document package from Joe, but not until Monday. The toggle switch right behind the panel also appears to work properly.

May 1 1999 9:21AM EDT
Well, the solenoid is energizing, but the circuit it is supposed to switch has no power. The motor runs fine when I raise and lower the flaps (which is how I lowered the gear). I am wondering where the input to the solenoid comes from (not the switching lead, but the switched one).

May 2 1999 9:52AM EDT
OK, Almost there... Turns out the problem was the circuit breaker to the pump. It had broken, but not popped out. Pressing it in by hand had not reset it. Attached to the toggle switch in the gear circuit, a small ceramic tube has been soldered in to the wire. Anyone know what it is/does?  Also, a question about the function of the indicator lights: The red should come on as soon as the gear moves up off the stops, and the green only when BOTH are back on the stops? On this plane, the green comes on when either gear depresses the bottom stop.

May 2 1999 8:44PM EDT
Well, turns out it was the multi-connector from the junction box on the firewall on through. The lead from the landing gear circuit breaker to the landing gear solenoid was intermittently losing contact. Turns out that the multiconnector had come loose over the years. Cleaning the contacts and seating it firmly made everything work properly. Still curious about that little ceramic cylinder wired to the landing gear toggle switch, though! Does anyone have any breaker switches they would part with? Yves
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So there you have it... Ah yes, the joys of keeping a 50+ year old airplane in shape !

CERAMIC TUBES...
Haven't seen a response regarding the ceramic tube Yves asked about. It's a dropping resistor and can be found (if you have a magnifying glass) in Figure 19 on Page 32 of the Parts Manual. It is not called out in the parts list, though. Its function is to reduce the voltage to the gear up light, I presume to extend bulb life, since the red light is on for a significantly longer time than the other two. It also serves to make the light less intrusive at night.

A couple people have commented on the red circuit breaker on the right side of the panel. It does NOT pop out when it breaks the circuit. Great design, huh? When pushed in to be reset, it will be obvious when it does reset, if you've done it before. If you don't feel latching of the internal mechanism, it's not reset. I would highly recommend anyone who is not overly concerned with originality to replace it with a Klixon 7271 or Potter & Brumfield W23 series, so it not only will be obvious if it trips, but it will easy to reset. With a shoulder harness on, it can be hard to get the right leverage to reset the original one. It will also give you the option of pulling it, if for some reason you have the need. Geoff Crawford <swift88k@pacbell.net>

STEVE WILSON AND JIM MONTAGUE HANDLE A BURNED-OUT BULB QUESTION...  (6499)
From: Steve Roth <stevenroth@aol.com>
My bulb burned out on the "unsafe" (Red) light for the gear. I can't read the bulb number on the old bulb. I have tried various 12 Volt bulbs but none glow enough to be able to see the light with the red lens cover on. Anyone have any suggestions about what bulb to use? Thanks, Steve N2397B

Steve...
I assume you are talking about the small original lights (red, amber, & green), the correct bulb is a GE-1813. It is a .10W; 12-16V bulb. AS&S lists them in their '97-'98 catalog for $1.32/@, if not available from a local store. Good luck! Steve Wilson

Steve,
As Steve W. already said, the original was an 1813 bulb. There may be a dropping resistor in line to keep the bulb from burning too brightly. Someone may have changed the bulb and/or removed the resistor. Jim Montague

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