REFLECTOR: Accident/Incident

[Dave Black]

Scott Derrick wrote:

> I don't understand about the "tension at 20lbs was to tight"??   
> What tension? Oh, do you mean tension on the bellvue washers??  Why  
> would that have anything to do with it not coming down, unless his  
> nose wheel guides aren't installed correctly and allow it to get  
> hung up inside...

I think that's exactly what happened.

When I was building my RG back about 1996, the Factory told me they'd  
never heard of a nosewheel getting hung in the well. But I played  
with it a bit and determined while it was extremely unlikely, it was  
still POSSIBLE. I further determined that it would be all but  
impossible to get the gear to drop if the wheel did somehow get  
turned to the side a bit. No amount of shaking or bouncing would get  
the gear to drop. And there's nothing you can do from the cockpit to  
straighten that wheel. In the end, I decided it was MUCH easier to  
install side guides than to worry about the gear getting caught.

By the way, I don't think the tension on the washer has much to do  
with it -- other than maybe making it LESS likely the gear could  
castor in flight. I suppose if you retract the gear while the  
nosewheel is still shimmying, that increases the chance of the gear  
getting cocked and stuck. In any case, the guides should do the trick.


dave black