REFLECTOR:Gear Up
Fred Marconi
reflector@tvbf.org
Tue, 6 Apr 2004 08:53:05 -0400
Chuck:
Again thanks. I spoke with Scott B and he says that this is common with
S-Tec and velocities, I am not the only one with this problem. I called
S-teck and they will supply me with the pod and the diagram of how to do the
modification.
Fred
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Jensen" <cjensen@dts9000.com>
To: <reflector@tvbf.org>
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 6:53 AM
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR:Gear Up
> Fred,
>
> I might add, the Clevelands will not harm the gear legs on hard braking.
> The tires will skid before the gear is pressured enough to damage. Can
you
> make your tires "chirp" with the Matcos? Not a standard practice but if
it
> comes to that, you should be able to leave skid marks. In a tight
> situation, the only skid marks Matcos leave is in your draws.
>
> S-Tec pilot oscillation issue. If you look back through Reflector, and
> VVs?, the S-Tec oscillation has been addressed by S-Tec by adding a pot
on
> one of the circuits (for experimentals only). That exhausts what I know
> about it but I think there is a solution out there for you.
>
> Chuck
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-admin@tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-admin@tvbf.org]On
> Behalf Of Fred Marconi
> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 11:52 PM
> To: reflector@tvbf.org
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:Gear Up
>
>
>
> Dear Scott B:
>
> Well I was a little angry about the fork. Mad Mike, before leaving
was
> very emphatic about changing the fork, he said there was a new one, much
> better. I called you on this specifically and you said everything was
fine.
> If there was a question, why did yu not call mad Mike to make sure
> everything was OK.? If not for wishing to center the wheel on the fork
I
> would not have noticed what was happening. This is why the bolt did not
> turn, I spoke to you about that as well. In any event it's my fault for
not
> reading the V-News but then again what of the clients that are not
> subscribed. Well I have read the V-News but did not pick up on this.
On
> another note if this is such an issue as with car companies that have
> thousands upon thousands of clients, when a defect is noticed, they have
> knowledge of who bought what and they notify the client directly. There
> should have been a record of when I bought the fork and what fork and if
> this was such an issue to the well being of the client and the factory I
> should have been notified by mail. When it comes to sending me a bill
there
> is never a delay. THAT VELOCITY KEEPS GOOD TRACK OFF.
>
> Scott on these issues the company need to take a greater role in
> notifying the client. YOu know how concientious I have been. Rest
assured
> that if I would have recieved a note form Velocity on this I would have
> taken action. I did not hesitate to spend over $7000.00 for a new wing.
I
> still love you, YOU ARE GREAT!
>
> Now on the brakes. Really these Matcos are.....Well what can I say.
I
> mean I can land in 2500' with as little experience as I have, but the
brakes
> do leave a lot to be desired. It Chuck is right about the Clevelands
the
> company should not be recommending or selling the Matco's We do not
need to
> be worried about overheating the brakes and damaging our main gear if
there
> is a better alternative.
>
> On a better note, I have 0.7 hours to go for the sign off. The plane
has
> performed beautifully. today I did alot of x-wind landings, at Pohokee
I
> landed with a 90 degree 15-18 mile x-wing. I love how the plane
handles. I
> love to fly this plane, it's a rush.
>
> I do have a problem with the s-Tec autopilot. On the roll control
the
> plane bobs constantly from right to left. The ailerons just keep on
going
> up and down. The oscilations are small and very anoying. Nathan had
> adjusted the ailerons slightly down, after flying the plane they as
3/16" up
> both. I am going to tighten the cables and readjust the ailerons to a
down
> position. What input do you have for me on this issue. The climb and
reach
> altitude and level function was a complete orgasm.
>
> I practice on some high approaches on final and fast slow descent then
> nosing down to 100 then smoothing her in. This plane handles great!!!!
> Would be interesting to see how she might perform with vortex generators
and
> fences.
>
> Fred
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Baker" <sbakr@comcast.net>
> To: <reflector@tvbf.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 7:27 AM
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:Gear Up
>
>
> > 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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> >
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