Whats a good way to jack a Long-EZ for wheel & brake mai

[Lowlevldevl]

Hi guys!
Here's yet another dumb question from me.
Following on from one of my earlier questions, I need to jack my Long-EZ to remove the wheels (one at a time) so I can change brake discs. Where are the jack points? Do you go under the gear legs with a floor jack? Or padding on a saw horse under a wing?
If so at what station?

[Waiter]

I made a sketch of my jack, but couldn't figure out how to attach it to this post.

I have a scissor jack I made out of a 2x4 and two door hinges. Its hinged in the middle and at the top where it contacts the spar cap.  You put the top of the scissor against the bottom spar cap as far out on the center spar as you can.  The bottom of the scissor rests on the ground at a slight angle so the jack is tilted slightly in and also tilted forward to match the tilt of the plane.

As you push in at the bottom of the top scissor handle (2x4 that extends down past the center pivot point),  the scissors will go straight  and raise the center spar about a foot. The scissors are designed so when they are straight, they'll go over center a little. When the scissors are overcenter, they are locked in the straight position and will not collapse.

The tire raises  2 - 3 inches depending on how the jack is positioned.

To lower it, pull (or push) at the bottom of the top scissor handle to get it to pop out of over center, As the jack hinges in the middle, the plane is lowered.

The plane must be resting securely on its nose so it can't roll while on the jack.

I'll get a photo and some dimensions and post them on my web site:

www.iflyez.com

OH YEAH, With the retracts, its even easier.

I place my aft fuselage stand under the rear of the plane. I then extend the nose gear. As the nose comes up, the aft fuselage pivots down until its resting on the aft fuselage stand. With the aft fuselage resting on the stand, as the nose continues to raise, the main gear now comes off the ground and tires raise 2 to three inches.

Waiter

[Lowlevldevl]

Thanks Waiter,
Your website is one of the most interesting EZ sites I've found.
If you wanted to send me your sketch my email is don_blanch@hotmail.com

[Delta Mike]

Here is a method you can use if yore stuck in the outback without much fancy equipment: Two planks, a rock and a clamp.

Common planks in the US are 2x4s (~9cm x 4cm). They should be about as long as 2/3 the distance between the main gear.

Use the rock and one of the planks to leaver one side of the gear up into the air - the short end of the lever should be right under the end of the  strut. While holding the 1st plank down, you get the 2nd plank hooked under the other strut end and laid over the 1st plank. Clamp em together using a mate or a C-clamp and you have a pretty steady jack.

[Drew]

First of all, you don't need to jack the plane to change the pads.  Just unbolt the two bolts that hold the brake halves together.  The tire side one will fall away----and you slide the other side off the pins.

As for jacking the plane to remove the tires----to change the tires:
I never used a jack for my Longez----I am not recommending that you don't use a jack---I just never did.  I would pick up the strake with my back and have a friend replace the wheel with a tire stand.

Well---my Cozy is too heavy to pick up in this manner----and I recently got a jack (http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/to/jacks.html).  The jack I got was the bogert lil lifter----I love it----it works great.  It comes with 4 or 5 different "pads" that fit on the end.  I found that only one works for the EZ.  It is very difficult to get a regular car jack in there

[Snappy]

Park the plane and 'set' the gear so that they are as narrow as they can be with weight on.  Measure from outside to outside on the gear legs and cut a 2x4 to that length.  This is your lever.  Cut 2 or 3 2x4 blocks about 6" long.  These are your fulcrum.

Take your 2x4 lever and place one end under a gear leg.  Place your blocks about 6" to 12" from the end of the lever so that you have to push down on the lever to lift the tire off the ground.  You will find that if you push down enough, you can put the opposite end of the lever under the other gear leg (non lifting) and it will hold your lever down and your tire/wheel up off the ground.

Hope this helps, it works for me.  If not, Drew's method is fool proof.

[Lowlevldevl]

Thanks Guys. I'm on my own so Snappy, your system looks just the ticket.

[greg]

My preferred method, with the minimum of skill or hardware requirements, is to go out to the wing tip, lift, and stick something appropriate such as a sawhorse under the wing tip. The wing itself makes a very nice lever to get one of the tires off the ground.

[Bruce Hughes]

I needed to lift the wheels and got some 2 x 4s.

One was WAY TOO LONG but I did not want to bother cutting it.
It was around 12 feet.

The other was 4 inches long.

I put the short one close to the gear leg and put the long
one over the short one and under the gear leg.

When I let the long board down, the wheel came off the ground
and stayed up.   The weight of the long board was enough that
I needed no other weight.

This is the easiest way.

Bruce Hughes