REFLECTOR: main gear pivot bolts

[Mike Dawson]

I thought Velocity went to 5/8 bolts and the old ones
were 1/2 inch?

Mike
--- Scott Baker <sbakr at comcast.net> wrote:

> Most of the Grade-8 bolts that Velocity receives
> from suppliers are not 
> perfectly straight.  I've noticed a bend in the
> bolts with enough sweep to 
> cause friction inside the steel main gear leg insert
> bushing.  The friction 
> is such that a very light tapping with a hammer
> easily pushes it through the 
> bushing.  This may or may not speak to what you
> describe.
> I have notice that most of the main gear bolts seen
> in the Velocity Service 
> Center require a hammer and punch to remove.  This
> leads me to believe that 
> small bends in the main gear bolts are common place.
> SB
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Scott Derrick" <scott at tnstaafl.net>
> To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list"
> <reflector at tvbf.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:44 AM
> Subject: REFLECTOR: main gear pivot bolts
> 
> 
> >I pulled my main gear off yesterday and was
> disappointed that the 1/2"
> > pivot bolts were slightly bent.  I only have a
> couple hundred hours on
> > this set of  bolts and I don't think I'm that bad
> of a pilot when it
> > comes to landing the thing.  Maybe its all a
> matter of perspective
> > though. :-)
> >
> > The bolts weren't bent a whole lot, and came out
> with light persuasion
> > from a rubber mallet, but they are bent enough
> that I don't want to
> > re-use them. The gear also retracted fine prior to
> removal which is my
> > usual test to verify all is well as the clearance
> is fairly close for
> > the legs and wheels up in the wings. A leg with a
> really bent bolt won't
> > retract or will bind somewhere, ask me how I know!
> >
> > I realize a redesign of this part of the system
> would be a lot of work,
> > but every A&P that I have shown this pivot bolt
> system too has not liked
> > it. Its a lot of bending forces on a long bolt
> that is not supported in
> > the middle very well. Maybe the fix is to use a
> thicker sleeve in the
> > leg to provide more support in the middle which is
> where the bolt always
> > bends? Or possibly a better(stiffer) alloy steel
> for the sleeve?
> >
> > Anybody else with hundreds of hours on there V
> that has had to R&R the
> > main gear experience what I am?   Bolts always
> just a little bent?
> >
> > Scott
> >
> > -- 
> >
> > -
> >
> >    I worry about my child and the Internet all the
> time, even though she's 
> > too young to have logged on yet. Here's what I
> worry about. I worry that 
> > 10 or 15 years from now, she will come to me and
> say 'Daddy, where were 
> > you when they took freedom of the press away from
> the Internet?'
> >
> >    Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation
> >
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