Swift Landing Gear Doors

LOOKING FOR P-51 STYLE GEAR DOOR INFORMATION...  (050199)
Does anyone have the correct measurements for the P-51 style gear doors? I need the distance from the hinge (top of the gear door) to the point where the gear door connecting rods attach to the gear door. Also the correct length of the connecting rods. My current P-51 gear doors buckle, bend and rub the tire when the strut is flat! Obviously I did not realize that I have a MAL engineered gear door until my strut went flat!#$* My Swift has ELI gear, which should not make any difference for the gear doors. The other question was to confirm that the gear door pushrods are attached to the bottom portion of the gear leg (i.e. the part that slides up and down) and not the upper part which is fixed. From an engineers point of view (not really because I am not an engineer) it would make more sense for the pushrod attach point to be located on the upper portion of the gear leg. Thanks -- Mark Culpepper <MDCULPEPPER@Compuserve.com>

Mark,
I went over to the airport & measured 60B's gear doors. From the hinge to the AN3 bolt in the bracket is 11 1/4". The rods seem to all be 5 1/8" long, but I caution you, these are adjustable. To the guy that wanted to know how high a Swift sat with the gear up, it looks like about four and a half feet. They (the pushrods) attach to the fork, (part of the lower section) They quite nicely go outboard when landing or negotiating bumps etc. Are yours the genuine STC'ed Lischer gear doors? They should not present problems. -- Jim

LONGER GEAR DOORS STC... (010500)
Subject: Re: P-51 Gear Doors
From: Steve Roth <StevenRoth@aol.com>
Where can I acquire P-51 gear doors, preferably with an STC? Regards, Steve & N2397B

Steve,
Read the STC listing on the Swift Home Page. The STC was held by Monte Zema, call him and ask. I'm not sure if they're available right now. Monte Zema's phone number is in the Swift Membership Directory mailed out by the Swift Association. -- Jim

"P-51" GEAR DOORS... (080600)
Subj: Gear doors
From: Dennis Friedrich <dennisd@crcwnet.com>
Were is the best place to pick up a set of '51 gear doors for my Swift? Do most make them or buy them? If they are made are there plans/templates anywhere? Thanks.

Dennis,
Last I knew the STC was held by Monte Zema - Globe GC-1A,-1B series. STC#: SA4011WE

"P-51" GEAR DOORS...(JUNE 04)
Subj: P-51 doors They’re a Twisted Bunch
From: Michael Inskeep <mlimri@yahoo.com>
Monty,
I made a set of P-51 doors for the Swift. Everything went well till I was adjusting the fit to the wing in the closed position. To get the pilot side to fit flush I have to force the front inward so far that it is in quite a twist. The right side is not nearly as twisted. I’ve checked the connection points as to the distance from the top of the doors ( APROX. 11" REAR 11 1/2 FRONT.) I cheated a little on the distance because in close position it was hitting the actuator wheel. The hinge is straight when I took the plane off the stands and let it settle on the wheels it came in even closer to approx 1" from the tire. If the struts compress further on landing it would likely rub the tire. There are 3 swifts on the field here that I’ve compared the doors with. Everything seems to check out OK. One gentleman here is a long time Swift owner and CI, who has installed a lot of doors in his time. He’s stumped too! Any thoughts? Thx. Michael in Ohio.

Michael
This is one of those deals where I would have to see the problem to help you. The first thing that gets my attention is "I made a set of P-51 gear doors for the Swift." Did you use the same dimensions and geometry as the genuine STCed gear doors? I would guess not. I made similar gear doors before the STCed gear doors were available and I know I had problems like you are referring to. I'm not saying the STCed gear doors are perfect but they are well thought out and usually fit with a minimum of fuss. Years ago, Dennis Stevenson in CA also made some enlarged gear doors which required fine adjustment to fit correctly. I guess the best long distance advice I can give is to buy a set of "genuine" STCed parts. Alternately, accurately copy a set of known good fitting gear doors. -- Jim
ps The gear door STC is held by: Monte Zema (509) 684-5348 or (509) 684-2601