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Jacking points


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In a pinch HomerDan would have the tie down points.   Ie bolt eyes.  A bolt a nut a washer and a grinder would make a jack point.    I would not do it, but some have.    If you need to change tires one at a time a rod through the landing gear and a jack will get one tire off the ground.

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2 hours ago, Joe Afonso said:

Both, the jack points secure the tie down rings.

 

2 hours ago, Joe Afonso said:

I’m at kmgj

are you needing to jack the aircraft for service, or are needing to tie it down?

 

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In an emergency, just screw in a socket head cap screw [used with Allen wrenches], the tip of the jack will fit into the hexagonal hole in the bolt. Take a tie down ring to the hardware store to match thread size [5/16-18 x 1" should work], but I would not get inside the plane while jacked this way . . . . The bolt head is too small and will allow rocking, which could be disastrous! But you can work on tires, brakes, gear legs, doors.

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You can find forged eye bolts at most large hardware stores that will fit. I used to think Mooney eyebolts were special, but others here convinced me otherwise.:)

A lot of mechanics make their own jack points by taking the appropriate size bolt and rounding the edges of the head with a grinder. Back it up with a large flat washer when installing. 

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17 minutes ago, PT20J said:

You can find forged eye bolts at most large hardware stores that will fit. I used to think Mooney eyebolts were special, but others here convinced me otherwise.:)

A lot of mechanics make their own jack points by taking the appropriate size bolt and rounding the edges of the head with a grinder. Back it up with a large flat washer when installing. 

This is exactly what my AP/IA did on my first annual. He was nice enough to do owner assist and I learned a lot in the process. I'm sure it would have been quicker without me... Anyway, he asked if I had jack points and I said I did not. He said no problem, I'll be right back. He went back to his hangar, made a couple just like you described, and came back a short time later. When we were done he told me to keep them for the next year, which I did. After that I bought the LASAR ones so next annual I won't need the homemade ones anymore, although they worked very well and were solid for my first two annuals.

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4 hours ago, PT20J said:

You can find forged eye bolts A lot of mechanics make their own jack points by taking the appropriate size bolt and rounding the edges of the head with a grinder. Back it up with a large flat washer when installing. 

The IA that did my pre-buy had a set that looked like LASAR's less the tie-down ring, when I ended buying the plane I asked where I could buy them at, his answer was you have a lathe and know what they look like, make your own. They have been used on several different M20's over the years

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An oh by the way, my plane was on jacks for an extended period, the original tie down points are stripped out and eyebolts with nuts and washers were in place so I went to a local hobby shop that had R/C plane supplies ( yes I fly them too) and picked up a set of machined streamlined prop nuts and attached them with bolts coming from inside the wing. They were tall enough that the jack had plenty of clearance and being made of machined aluminum were plenty strong plus they sat in the depression on top of the jack with little chance of bouncing out when I got in the plane. I also bought the LASAR jack point/tiedowns which I am using now.

 

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I bought the LASAR version however there is a problem with them.  I have Meyers jacks and the tie down portion is not long enough to clear the jack piston.  The tie down portion thus gets bent up close to the wing.  I bought some stainless steel  90 degree angle, and using a press opened it up to about  45 degrees.  Then with a vertical sander, press and hand tools, made new tie down sections as needed.  They cleat the jacks, stay on the plane all the time, and are thicker than the LASAR version.  The cone or jack point part is easily made on a metal lathe out of stainless steel.

John Breda

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