I have been working on sn 4122, N7725...... the tail wheel, main and gear doors over the past few days and before I get too far into the project, I hope some of you experienced RF-4D owners can assist with some suggestions or perhaps give me some insights so I don't screw things up too badly or try to reinvent the wheel. Actually the more I get into the RF-4D, the more respect I have for it's wonderful design. When I get this aircraft flying again, I hope to take it to Bend, Oregon and let the Sparrow Hawk glider people see how neat the RF-4D is and what was done with 60's/ 70's technology. The Sparrow Hawk is a neat little carbon fiber glider... the body is about 75 lbs. Talk about light weight!

First the tail wheel... Collin's post was very helpful and he was kind enough to give me a new wheel, tube and original rubber shock/bumper. Unfortunately, my tail wheel bracket had been cut down and a solid wheel mounted. Needless to say, it was a very hard ride. So I decided to rebuild it for the larger tire. I think it will work fine but I will not know for sure until I test in take-off, taxiing, and landings on a hard surface.

The main gear has a few more problems. I found a tire that same size as the original so I rebult the wheel and put in a new tube. As all you know, it takes about 4 hands to get the tube in and the wheel back together.

Since I have the aircraft "hung" it is easy to play with the retract system. There were two times when flying the airplane back from Arizona I found myself in turbulence (the kind that remind you why you should not wear a hat with a button on the top) and the gear came down. I was not sure if I really had it locked up... it was up and felt locked but I am not sure it was slammed up hard enough--- or perhaps the up locking position needs some adjustment.

I am not sure, but I don't think I have a gear light (or test button) and perhaps not a stall warning system either... or it is not working. I will have to check it out later. Lucky for me, the former owner (John Buckner) installed a window on the top of the wheel well so I have a good visual of the gear being down... and I really like it since I can see the center line on the taxi ways, etc.

My gear doors seem worn and not very tight. Collin gave me new springs but I think the hinges are really worn and some of the screws are not holding very well. I know I need to take the doors off and really try to get it working correctly. No doubt others have had the same problems. I did not see a subject line in the maintenance section regarding gear doors or the lock up system (or how it actually works). I would welcome any suggestions and/or advice.

Sorry to say that I do not know how to add pictures to this post so I but together a 10 image album you can access via Google. Here is the link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Bomar1&target=ALBUM&id=5346624575096644337&authkey=Gv1sRgCJrN2ujw3sKQ3QE&authkey=Gv1sRgCJrN2ujw3sKQ3QE&feat=email

Again, I would welcome any advice or suggestions... if you see something in the images that is incorrect, or perhaps unsafe, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Bob Brock

Regarding the tail wheel I think it looks fine, but your rubber bumper looks big, might be a good idea to check prop clearance if it doesn´t "seat" itself when loaded. I would ad that I prefer tight springs (I use compression type springs) to improve crosswind handling, you can see mine at the "Maintenance-Groovy Horns"-thread and get them at Aircraft Spruce if I remember correctly.

Another congratulation to the window in the wheel-well. It´s featured on SE-XST too and I like it a lot. My stall/geardown warning system is out too, and good riddance. Annoying with the horn and light when you thermal and I often doesn´t use the airbrake until touchdown, a little late to be reminded of gear up then... I like to look out the wheelwellwindow instead and the electrical system has had to be renewed on many Fourniers anyway. Wood is tougher than wiring.

I have had the wheel come down unexpectedly once, the THUD does get your attention and the loop became really screwy but I think that was because of poor latching. In the "maintenance- lubricating your undercarriage"-thread you can see a nice picture of Collin´s undercarriage. It pivots around the axle near the underside and at the top you can see the latch sliding on the semi-circular fitting with two notches for the latch to engage- the lower for "in" and the upper for "out"-position. Improper latching can be the result of worn/dirty notches or wear on or weak spring on the latch itself to give some examples. Elsewhere we concluded that pressing the security latch down after retracting/lowering the undercarriage is good practice- you never know if some dirt flew into a notch and you develop a feel for if the wheel is properly locked, it´s not all that uncommon that I have to recycle the gear to lock it properly. Check pictures and comments at the "Flying- wheel locked up or locked down"-thread.

Regarding the gear doors it´s another ingenious, simple lightweight design of René Founier- the spring presses the doors onto the frames on the sides of the wheel so when the wheel slides out of the way the doors close. I think your doors look fine, so I would suggest you check if stronger door springs would close the doors better. Otherwise, you might adjust the position of the hinges and replace if worn. If the geardoor-screws are loose Mr Grimstead has a suggestion in the "maintenance- wing fairing screw holes" on a fix for that.

Regarding posting photos- check out "Miscellaneous- posting photos on this forum"-thread. Takes some fiddling since Image shack seems to re-size the pics nowadays. Thanks for sharing, keep us posted on your progress!

Take 5(b) just 4 fun/ Jörgen

[Edit by Jorgen on Monday, June 15, 2009 @ 04:31 PM]

The strobes are toast... and the factory notes that they should be used all the time. If not used for a year, there is an excellent chance something in the power supply fails due to lost polarity. I told Collin I wanted to rework the electrical system so it would have a full system shut-off. Of course he pointed out that I had one ( a 5 amp. breaker) that did just that if I pulled it out. Needless to say, I pulled it out and the entire system was turned off.

Some of the light brackets are missing so I just used duct tape, but I need to replace the missing parts. Then repair the fabric, some wood repairs, etc. and get this aircraft back where it belongs... flying again.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions... it is wonderful to know pilots who have experience with the RF aircraft.

Also I read somewhere that strobes should be turned on about once a month for some reason- something to do with the capacitor, I think.

Take 5(b) just 4 fun/ Jörgen

Eugenio