Composite landing gear for Pitts S1SS

[Laromin]

A gear of the same shape and size of the aluminum one would weigh about 46 percent less if made out of carbon,mostly tow.
I saw a picture of a carbon zivko gear somewhere.The Extra 260 had a glass tow gear,but it was quite a bit thicker than an aluminum one.
All the Extra 300 gears are glass composite.
In any case it could be done,the most important thing being that small bend radii are to be avoided.(Sort of copy the Extra 300).
One could also start with an aluminum gear that is maybe 4mm thicker and mill away material to end up with an I-beam with vertical support pillars.
Would need to be done on a CNC and cost a lot more,but again you could save half the weight.In general a lot of metal hardware can be lightened/optimized by machining .

 

[PittsS1S]

Hi Laromin
I was looking for Wittman or RV type landing gear legs made from titanium .That's not so light !!!...9 lbs for each leg, so 18 lbs total + around 5 lbs of tubing to weld on the engine mount + 2 lbs of axles and sockets ;so a total of 25 lbs .Then i will have to add some profil around the legs..so more weight again !!!
So , may be by using the right method , the carbon should be the lighter way to build a landing gear .In first place ,i was thinking about using twisted 12 K tows wetted with epoxy resin by hand...Not sure the 12 k carbon is the best tow to use...may be add some kevlar tow ?I don't find any book or whatever to know about the right technique
Composite gear spring

 

[PittsS1S]

May be vacuum will be good to use