REFLECTOR: RE: NOSE WHEEL GOT SIDEWAYS [heur]

[Tom Martino]

I was able to confirm that the nose gear was down and locked (because of
my micro switches) ... however ... I was not able to confirm that the
gear did not retract.  The nose gear could've been retracted, with the
door remaining open.  And now that I read Deeter's explanation, I am
beginning to believe that is what happened.

 

Check, please tell me where and how you mounted your mirror.

 

This is why they call it the "test flying".

 

I must say again this REFLECTOR is AWESOME.   There is nothing better
than shared experience.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Chuck Jensen
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 6:39 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: REFLECTOR: RE: NOSE WHEEL GOT SIDEWAYS [heur]

 

Tom,

 

Are you sure your nose gear didn't retract?  Without the lights going
out, it may indicate the nose gear doors didn't close, which isn't too
surprising if the connecting T had broken off, but the nose wheel may
have been fully retracted..  Its kind of doubtful that the nose wheel
got misaligned.  If you'd hit something hard enough to misalign the nose
wheel at 70-80kts...you would have known it.  Were you able to confirm
the nose gear truly was still down via the mirror on the canard...you do
have a mirror there don't you?

 

Chuck

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]On
Behalf Of Tom Martino
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 9:00 PM
To: reflector at www.tvbf.org
Subject: NOSE WHEEL GOT SIDEWAYS

Something unusual happened to me today in flight ... but fortunately, it
didn't cause any major problems.

 

I am not sure why it happened or what to do to prevent it ... so I ask
all of you ...

 

I was doing touch-and-goes.  On my last take-off ... I noticed the nose
gear hadn't retracted.  So I lowered the gear (got greens) and landed.

 

The nose gear door actuator has a "T" fitting screwed into the end of
the shaft which connects to the gear door rods (which open and close the
door).

 

The "T" had snapped off the end of the actuator shaft. 

 

>From what I surmised ... the nose gear got sideways and grabbed the nose
gear doors on the way up (during retraction) and got wedged outside the
doors.  As it pulled the doors up with a lot of force (while the door
actuator was still extended) it snapped the "T" fitting off the end of
the shaft.

 

The only damage is the "T" fitting (which I lost in flight) and the rod
of the actuator which has a screw snapped off inside it.

 

Has anyone ever head o this happening?

 

Either I retracted my gear too soon, or the nose fork is too tight on
the spindle.

 

Any thoughts?

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