REFLECTOR: Paul Calhoun's nose gear incident

Tom Martino tmartino at troubleshooter.com
Wed Aug 16 08:28:28 CDT 2006


Scott,

 

I do not have a lip at the bottom of the guides ... but id the nose tire
is a bit crooked and is pulled up into the guides ... it can have a
tendency to sit a bit slanted within the channel - enough so that it
could prevent a free-fall IF THE FORK TO STRUT NUT IS TOO TIGHT.  

 

However, it will NOT prevent extension under hydraulic operation.

 

There is a delicate balance between "no-shimmy" tight and "free fall"
loose.

 

Tom  

 

________________________________

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Scott Baker
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 3:12 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Paul Calhoun's nose gear incident

 

I'd love to see photos of the guides, especially where they connect at
the floor.  There should be NO lip at the gear door opening.  Also, the
guides should be constructed to a sufficient height that the gear cannot
"bounce" above the guides during turbulence.  I want to learn more -
however I doubt that the nose gear could jam itself between the guides.
I'm guessing that the gear got caught on a lip.

SB

 

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Phil Hooper <mailto:phil at hdmnet.com>  

	To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
<mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>  

	Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 7:59 PM

	Subject: REFLECTOR: Paul Calhoun's nose gear incident

	 

	I just talked to Paul.  He's pretty discouraged.  He had put his
wooden Catto back on and was flying from Modesto, California to Coeur
D'Alene Idaho with a stop in Carson City.  He had a pretty strong cross
wind at wheels up leaving Carson City and theorized that that the wheel
was at an angle when retracted.  It wedged somehow between the nose gear
guides/lip of the opening.   He tried all the usual stuff to get it down
without success.  When the fire department lifted the nose, he could see
the tire was wedged in there, pressed on the edges.  He reached in and
with a twist (not much force) it turned, unwedged and dropped readily.
His tension on the nut, for anti-shim, was 19 pounds and was checked a
few days earlier.  He also believes that the gas spring could have been
a factor and was due for replacement, a mother bear job.  I've heard
they are only good for a few years ???  

	 

	Paul plans to try to simulate what happened, take photos and
advise.  The picture in my mind is pressed rubber, tight against edges,
like a bad parking job against the curb.

	 

	I'm about to build the nose gear guides and wonder if beveling
them (concave, eliminating the edges) would still help get the gear up
into position, but provide some strain relief if it tried to go in
wedged, letting it free up more easily on dropping the gear.    Paul
feels that Mack's warning, mentioned in an earlier post, probably was
not a factor.

	 

	I've not followed any discussions, but if the anti-shimmy
cylinders are effective (I saw one or two at the symposium), does that
eliminate the need for tightening the nut so much that the tire might
get wedged.

	 

	Comments welcome to all of the above...especially from Sage
Baker. 

	 

	Phil Hooper

	
________________________________


	_______________________________________________
	To change your email address, visit
http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
	
	Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
	user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
	Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
	Check old archives:
http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20060816/809cded0/attachment-0001.htm 


More information about the Reflector mailing list