Cover panel for aircraft landing gear wheel well

A cover door retrofit kit for an aircraft undercarriage having a wheel well, the cover door configured to open and close the wheel well by pivotal rotation within a plane substantially parallel to the aircraft undercarriage;

• the cover door retrofit kit comprising:
• a substantially planar wheel well cover door;
• a rotary shaft configured to be secured to the wheel well cover door at a substantially orthogonal angle to an edge portion of the wheel well cover door;
• an actuator motor configured to pivot the rotary shaft relative to the undercarriage for moving the wheel well cover door substantially within a plane defined by the wheel well cover door, such that the cover door is configured to remain within the plane when moving to and away from the wheel well opening;
• wherein the rotary shaft is configured to rotate the cover door between open and closed positions of the wheel well.

A method of opening and closing a landing gear wheel well in an aircraft undercarriage, including the steps of:

• configuring a cover door for attachment to the aircraft undercarriage adjacent a wheel well of the aircraft;
• affixing a rotary shaft between the undercarriage and the cover door by securing a first end of the rotary shaft to an actuator motor fixed to the undercarriage, and by securing a second end of the rotary shaft to a flanged edge of the cover door;
• configuring the cover door to pivot within a plane defined by the cover door, so that the cover door is confined to movement within a plane parallel to the undercarriage;
• and
• rotating the cover door by moving the rotary shaft to pivot the cover door about an arc within the plane to open and close the wheel well.