Gear and Engine Mount Install

I've got the upper left wing in the booth getting all the misc. coats of nitrate and butyrate dope applied.  That is all going well.  This also gave me a chance to get the aircraft on the gear and things ready to hang the engine one last time.  Here are some misc. pictures...

I don't think I ever showed what the bottom the fuselage looks like.  So, before I removed it from the rotisserie, I took a shot.  The opening on the bottom is where the rear control stick pokes through.

 The gear needs to be on before I mount the engine as the rotisserie attaches to the engine mount lugs.  I don't have the wheels yet - they are due about any time, but that's OK as the fuselage needs to sit lower to mount the engine.

The gear installation took some time, being careful not to scratch anything, plus it needed some tweaking to make everything line up properly.  The axles are still going to need some adjustment once I have it on the wheels and all the weight on them.

The gear uses bungees for shock absorption that are not installed yet.  I'll wait for all the weight to be up front to see how many wraps are required.

Here is an interesting part of originality.  The gear legs were marked "L" and "R" for left and right with a punch.  I thought about filling it in since it is visible, but decided to keep it.  A fun, historical part of the airplane that needed to be kept.

So with it on the gear, I could remove the rotisserie.  In order for my engine crane to lift high enough to set the engine in place, I just have it setting on the axles for now.  I wrapped rope around where the bungees go to hold the gear legs pulled in.

I also needed something on the tail and came up with this.  Maybe this should be my permanent tail wheel!

Here's the mount installed for hopefully the last time.  Previous posts go into detail on making the mount and wood engine bearers.

What's next?  Well, I am going to keep up with the wing and get it completely finished and painted, and install the engine.  By then, I should have the wheels, get the tires mounted and have it rolling around on its gear -   Exciting times!

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!