Landing gear wipers

The gap between the landing gear and rib 1/skin1 will probably be an ingress point for dirt, etc. It might also be an entry point for draughts into the cabin. I consulted with Sling about the idea of creating a wiper plate to substantially block this entry point, but still allow for possible movement of the wheel gear in the event of a hard landing, without transferring any forces to rib 1.

I proposed to manufacture the wiper from thin 0.4mm 6061-T6

I queried as to whether the slight reduction of the gap due to the presence of such a thin piece of metal, and its associated bend radii would reduce any designed margin of error in this gap. Sling confirmed that this was not critical, and gave a general ok to this modification.

In this practical implementation, I expect the wiper to sit just above the gear when in a normal resting state. As a precaution I have created a slight upturn at the outer edge so that there is no possibility that this wiper will dig into the gear or have its edge rub against it. Both bends have a radius of about 8mm.