REFLECTOR:Gear Up
Scott Baker
reflector@tvbf.org
Sat, 3 Apr 2004 06:27:26 -0500
Fred,
I don't think it's quite fair for anyone to criticize the factory for a
busted nose wheel fork if it is of the old (smaller) design. The factory
has mentioned this time after time after time in the VV that the old forks
should be replaced. The factory subsidized the cost of the new forks. If
someone is operating an old fork today - they are ignoring the warning from
the factory. So please don't lay blame on the factory for an "almost
mishap" when your older fork developed a crack.
In regards to the main wheel getting stuck on the lip at the bottom of
the wheel well. This was caused as you know when the main gear leg warped
when it became overheated after being exposed to the excessively hot heat
from the brakes. Overheated brakes and the problems that come from
overheated brakes has also been the subject of repeated articles in the
Velocity Views. If you ride the brakes or do repeated hard braking, a lot
of heat develops around the brake disk, which is then transferred to the
gear leg. Too much heat leads to a softening of the gear legs. And if
there is any stress on the gear legs when they are soft, the legs will warp
to relieve the stress. We need to a) understand that this situation is
possible, b) try to avoid overheating the brakes, and c) when the brakes are
overheated, do something about it like throwing a wet towel around the leg
and/or pulling the aircraft forward about 15' after it has been stopped so
that the pressures on the gear leg are neutralized, and lastly d) look for a
warped leg during the preflight, just in case a,b,and c have been ignored.
If the wheel or lower portion of the gear leg looks crooked, the geometry of
the gear has obviously changed - and therefore the clearances of the gear
going into the wheel well will be changed and there is a possibility of
getting wheel stuck in the well. The lip at the wheel well presents a ledge
where hardware can catch and hang-up when this happens - so yes, I agree
with you that not having a lip is better than having a lip - but eliminating
the lip does not eliminate the possibility of a stuck gear ... the tire
could easily wedge itself against the wheel well and the gear could be stuck
to the point that it might not come down. Again the root of this paragraph
was overheated brakes and warped gear legs.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Marconi" <fmarconi@bellsouth.net>
To: <reflector@tvbf.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:Gear Up
> Scott: Insurances for Velocity are provided at with a 10% deductible.
At
> that I felt that it was not wise to take hull coverage.
>
> Velocity has a bad record, and I have to say that this is in part the
> factory's fault. The initial fork that was used for the front wheel was a
> bad desigh. It took many accidents before they decided to change.
> Insurances did not forget this. The landing gear system can be better
> designed, the factory is slow to change, we pay the insurance price.
>
> I was one of the lucky ones, I cought the crack on the old fork before a
> mishap, I do have to thank the company for offering me a replacement for
the
> new desigh at no charge. The mains, well they got stuck on me and
> fortunatelly I had someone in the plane and we knocked them loose. The
> wheel got cought on the inbord lip of the strake. The camber had changed
2
> degrees, enough to cause a problem. I removed the lip and will add the
> material to the skirt. This skirts need to be redisigned, they would not
> hear of this.
>
> Fred
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Derrick" <scott@tnstaafl.net>
> To: <reflector@tvbf.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 2:01 PM
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:Gear Up
>
>
> > Don,
> >
> > What a drag!!! IN more ways than one!! Sorry for the bad joke,
> >
> > Having just been through a nose up landing because of a stuck up nose
> gear
> > I feel some of your pain. THough I didn't trash a prop, I'm still
> > reshaping the nose, rebuilding the nose gear doors, and completely
> > replacing the nose gear assembly so I have the latest and greatest
> > equipment.
> >
> > I don;t have in-flight insurance so I'm doig htis out of pocket. Not
to
> > bad really, but a trashed MT would have been pricey!
> >
> > Hope you figure out why it didn't lock. What year was your kit?
> >
> > Scott
> >
> > > I had the main gear on my 173RGE collapse on landing this afternoon.
> At
> > > first glance the damage doesn't seem to be too bad. A ground up
belly
> and
> > > a trashed MT prop.
> > >
> > > It is really too soon to do much speculation as to the cause until I
> have
> > > had a chance to examine it more carefully. However, at this point
it
> > > looks as though the overcenter linkage may simply not have latched
> > > properly. I can't really say whether I had two greens on the gear
> lights
> > > or not, but I am sure that I didn't have a red light.
> > >
> > > I will report back if and when I have more definite information as
to
> what
> > > happened.
> > >
> > > Donald Royer
> > > djroyer@earthlink.net
> >
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