Giving it legs...

[MikeFairbanks]

I decided to go ahead and put the gear on the fuselage first thing to make it easier to move around the shop.

Things started out pretty well... I installed the mounting blocks loosely on the fuselage. Installed the cabane to the blocks. Then the left side gear leg. Next I got the right side gear leg prepped with the bushings and went to install it and it wouldn't fit!

It was about 1/16" shy of going into the rear block with a bolt pushed through the front block. I messed with this for a while without making any progress, so I decided to take a brake and put the tailwheel on...

This was pretty straight forward to install.

Back to the main gear I decided to ignore the right side for a while and mount the monster shock on the left. To do this I had to hoist the front of the fuselage up to give enough clearance... and this is when it occurred to me that perhaps the right side would fit better with the gear legs swung farther down under the fuselage...

It still took a gentle tap with a dead blow hammer, but it slipped into place and I was able to get the bolt through it.

I've just got the top bolts slipped into place on the monster shocks, so I will have to go back and shim them with washers for proper alignment. The bottom bolts don't want to go all the way through because the end of the shock strut is turned just a bit. I don't know if this can be rotated or not, and I'll seek guidance before trying.