The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

I am about to remove, die penetrant check and repaint my wheels and while they are off have the gear leg repainted. Can someone steer me to the proper way to get the aircraft off the ground for about 24 hours with everything apart?

tomreneau wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:50 pm I am about to remove, die penetrant check and repaint my wheels and while they are off have the gear leg repainted. Can someone steer me to the proper way to get the aircraft off the ground for about 24 hours with everything apart?

Get two jack pads:
https://www.univair.com/atlee-dodge/ces ... -jack-pad/

And two locking bottle jacks:
https://www.amazon.com/Alltrade-640912- ... 204&sr=8-1

Or support our members-

https://cessna120140.com/wp-content/upl ... na-120.pdf

Are you going to remove the gear legs to have them painted? If so then you will need a cradle type device under the fuselage. If not you might think about doing the job one leg at a time

I've used Randy's jack pads. Ok but I had trouble with interference with the brake line and of course it was hard on the paint on the gear legs. I never felt comfortable with the blocks of wood and bottle jack setup.

I splurged and got the Av Jack from The Landing Gear Works. Slides in under the end of the gear legs. Super secure. Of course, also expensive. Works great.

https://tlgw.aero/tlgw-specialties/av-jack

Randy's jack pad works well for me. I did glue some thin Walmart kitchen cutting board material to the surfaces to protect the gear leg paint. Regarding bottle jack use, I find the bottle jack adequately stable if I set the tail wheel on an upside-down bucket to give me a longitudinally level airplane.

Gear leg is not coming off but must be clear of a jack pad and the wheels to get painted. Wheels are getting tested to ensure there are no cracks. Is setting a wing on a cradle positioned just aft of the strut acceptable? What about just lifting from the engine?

Can you just lower the axle onto a 4x6 block?

Tom:
Just a side note - are you planning to strip paint from the gear, if so, critical that you do not use one of the harsh strippers due to possible "hydrogen embrittlement" of the gear metal. This issue has been covered here over the years IIRC. Understand that others have used the "citrus based" stripper which shouldn't cause a problem.
Also, before painting, remove the steps and inspect the holes in the gear leg carefully - there has been cracks starting there and causing destruction of aircraft. Harbor Freight has a Jewlers Louve for less than $10 that has two separate lens that will take you up 16.5X. I have had one for years. 2c

I have found over the years that in many cases the easiest, quickest, cleanest, and most economical way to strip paint from steel is to use a cheap 2.5” grinder with a twisted steel brush head available at Harbor Freight for about $25.00. Even the more expensive American made wire brushes shed wire as they are used so it is absolutely essential that very good eye protection is used. I did my C-140 gear legs that way a couple of years ago but they were out of the plane during restoration. In fact, about 10 years ago I stripped all the paint from a ‘64 VW Bug using this method. With the legs on the plane I would stay about a half inch from the aluminum on the fuselage for the obvious reason.
Steve H