REFLECTOR: NOSE WHEEL GOT SIDEWAYS

[Dave Black]

> it was the doors slamming closed to
> fast. The slamming snapped the end of the T and when I tried
> to retract the gear the next time they did not close.  I fixed
> the problem with an adjustable flow restricter. This works
> great. 

For what it's worth, the nose gear slamming is actually caused by the location
of the sequence valve. If mounted more than a couple inches from a pivot point
in the nose gear linkage, the nose gear has insufficient torque to operate the
valve until after the main gear is up. Once the mains are up, hydraulic
pressure builds very rapidly, until finally the sequence valve is activated
and the doors slam with authority. The extremely high pressure responsible for
the slamming can also damage the connector, as you have seen. 

You will probably note that the doors close in two steps: Partially after the
nose gear retracts, and the rest of the way after the main gear is up.
Installing a restrictor can eliminate the second stage door slamming, but does
nothing to get the nose doors to close in one smooth motion in the first step. 

Moving the sequence valve to within a couple inches of a pivot point (or using
leverage to multiply the force applied to the Sequence Valve's pushbutton)
causes the doors to close while the hydraulic pressure is still low, hence the
doors close smoothly and do not slam. Another benefit is the doors close all
the way immediately after the nose gear retracts, so there is no 'hiccup'
effect. 

Dave Black
Shortwing RG