REFLECTOR: NOSE STRUT

[Dave Dent]

Make sure you are not tightening the spacer inside of the washers if you are using the old style. This can give you a false security.  It will feel tight but you are not compressing the beveled washers to the 15lbs.  You can tell if you are trying to compress the spacer by looking at the face of the flat washer just below the beveled washers.  If you see a groove just outside of the ID of the washer then you are compressing the spacer and not the washers.  This is very dangerous.  This happen to me. My mark on the nut to fork never moved but the tension was not there after the fist landing.  So make sure of this if you are using the washers with the spacer in them.

If you are still using them, get rid of them.  They are junk and can make you loose the gear.  Believe me it happens. Velocity has the new thick beveled washers without the spacer.  

Also make sure you are not getting any threads from the lower end of the strut being transferred into the bushing in the fork.  You should show no thread in the bushing at all.  If you do the bushing is no longer doing what it is suppose to do, that is pivot,   Because now it becomes a jack screw instead of a pivot point.  The only pivot  you have now is the tire trying to twist inside the fork.  If you are seeing any scrub marks on the inside of the fork, this is a good sign that fork is being prevented from pivoting. 

After close to a hundred hours I worked all these problems out.  Including changing out two Matco wheels and going to Cleveland with taper roller bearings in them did I have all my problems go away.  With my new set up I have close to 50 hrs  and have not had one problem. It has not moved or loosened one bit.   I check it before each flight yet but I no longer have the concern that on the next landing the nose gear is coming out from under me. 

Now if I can only get the gear control system to work without having to hit the reset before the pump starts to work when I want the gear to come down. Still working that issue.  I thought it was pressure switch problems but they seems to be OK. I'm sure some of you guys have had this problem. What did you do?
Dave
N32XL
XL/RG 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Marconi 
  To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list 
  Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 3:13 PM
  Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: NOSE STRUT


  I have 160 hours and have never had a shimmy.  I tightened according to the manual and the nut kept on loosening to I went a little tighter and it has maintained its tension. A little hard to steer when the plane stops and the wheel is slightly turned and I have to start up again but other than that it steers well on the taxiway.  You have to kick the wheel to turn it.  No problem steering in the grass.

  Fred
  N244FM 
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Al Gietzen 
    To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list' 
    Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 5:59 PM
    Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: NOSE STRUT


    I have gone almost my entire 40 hours without a shimmy of any kind.  Now I find a slight shimmy at higher speeds.  I noticed the swivel between the fork and the strut has loosened a bit.  Just how tight does it have to be?

    Should it be relatively stiff to rotate by hand?  Any particular "poundage"?  

    Tom;  there is a spec for the force.  I believe it is 12.5# side force on the outside edge of the tire, but don't take my word for it - check the manual.

    Al



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