Old Fogey Landing gear wire

[dave570]

I just recieved my Old Fogey speed kit, and upon building the power pod, i realized the landing gear wire was so stiff and heavy, i could hardly bend it, anyone have this issue ??

 

[mlh122]

I just recieved my Old Fogey speed kit, and upon building the power pod, i realized the landing gear wire was so stiff and heavy, i could hardly bend it, anyone have this issue ??

I had that issue a few times. On the first one, my FT Mustang, I couldn't build the gear very well and it wasn't very straight and I couldn't straighten it, led to a few really bad cartwheels on takeoff. So I got some weaker wire at the hobby store and rebuilt the gear out of that. That gear would bend on every landing and having to re-bend it made it even weaker.

So I decided to make the included wire work on all future builds. I bought a 16lb vise from harbor freight for about $20. Now I clamp the LG wire in the vise and put on my big work gloves and something for padding and lean into it with both arms, bends with no problem and results in very strong landing gear.

I do not know how Josh does it in the videos with bare hands, either it's different wire or I'm weaker than I thought. He also cuts it with pliers, I destroyed 2 pairs of pliers and eventually got out the hacksaw.

 

[buzzkillg230rc]

You could also heat up the wire and bend it with pliers, then cool it off in water.

 

[notreallyme]

big pliers(or vise) helps a lot i was trying with vise grips and had no luck, bought some new BIG pliers and now i can get it done but it is still tough. Josh does make it look easy. my first landing gear with the small plies and vise grips was the storch so much bending i thought i would never get it done.

 

[bruin12]

I do not know how Josh does it in the videos with bare hands, either it's different wire or I'm weaker than I thought. He also cuts it with pliers, I destroyed 2 pairs of pliers and eventually got out the hacksaw.

I'm glad I was not the only one wondering how Josh bent the wire so easily. I was able to make the first bend with the wire that came with my Speed Build kit using pliers, the rest were impossible. I broke down and purchased a K&S Mini Wire Bender. I practiced a couple of bends on coat hanger wire, then moved on to the Old Fogey gear. Much easier and nice clean bends. I recommend buying a purpose-specific tool for this task.