I thought about calling this post "Wrestlemania", but the synonyms for "wrestle" describe Nick and Tom's efforts so well that any of them will work: grapple, rassle, scuffle, tussle. The left side landing gear had prior undocumented damage and somebody had welded a repair, and now the gear didn't align with the frame and the connecting bolts wouldn't fit. Here's what happened when a "simple" job turned ugly.
No amount of jiggling or muscle could get the bolts in. The landing gear frame would have to be manipulated with heat to slightly change its alignment.
Nick explained that the metal leg had to be heated all the way around its diameter in order for the metal to yield ever so slightly.
I can't speak for Tom, but as I watched Nick, I wondered how in the heck heating the landing gear would make it more "pliable", enabling the bolts to connect to the frame. Tom never doubted, or at least never owned up to any doubts. Tom knows that Nick has restored many airplanes, and Nick just doesn't quit (or is it that he never knows when to quit...). Faced with a technical problem, Nick ponders. It might take a day or two but the answers come to him, and the project advances.
Throughout the heating process Nick reminded us how hot the metal was and to stay clear. Can somebody tell me which is hotter: "red hot" or "white hot"? The landing gear was "white hot" and were it not for Nick's warnings, I probably would have walked into it or touched it or something; it didn't look sinister.
It wasn't sinister at all and the heating method worked! Now everybody's mood can cool along with the metal... Problem solved.
Photos and text by Kathleen Jacques.
