REFLECTOR: For Your Information -- Velocity Gear Fork

Fri Jun 20 09:39:00 CDT 2014

Yea good info to have  I guess I am going to have to join the VOBA just 
to keep in the loop.
Since that group has formed it seems very little now comes through the 
Refector. :(
I though maybe with the down turn that is why it has gone so quite ,I 
must have thought wrong.

Ron

On 6/20/2014 8:14 AM, Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list wrote:
> Any idea on cost yet? I purchased a used velocity 173rg and have no 
> idea it has ever had a hard landing or shimmy. A/C has 285 hrs on it. 
> Upgrading to a billet nose fork makes sense to me. Essentially cheap 
> insurance to avoid a catastrophe
>
> Jeff Findarle
> Allstar Realty
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 20, 2014, at 6:33 AM, Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders 
> list <reflector at tvbf.org <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>> wrote:
>
>> This topic was posted to the VOBA forum earlier this week with a lot 
>> of discussion. It's important enough to re-post on the Reflector for 
>> those who may not be VOBA members.
>>
>> Note: at the end of this message Andy is looking for other owners who 
>> may want to buy a stronger nose wheel fork. By ordering them at the 
>> same time, we can save a lot of production cost.
>>
>> *Reiff Lorenz, Dayton, OH*
>>
>> Velocity XL-RG, 59% complete
>>
>> Currently working on: Mounting the electric fuel pump.
>>
>> *Sent:*Wednesday, June 18, 2014 1:02 PM
>> *To:* Main Forum
>> *Subject:* [VOBA Forum] For Your Information -- Velocity Gear Fork
>>
>> In the interest of sharing information within the Velocity community, 
>> I want to make builders and owners of flying Velocities aware of two 
>> recent nose gear fork failures experienced by me and by John 
>> Youngblood.  We are both back flying with replacements of the current 
>> nose gear fork design, but want to apprise the community of the 
>> potential development of a new, upgraded nose gear fork.  First, a 
>> description of the two nose gear fork failures:
>>
>> *Gear Fork Failure N114MV -- Andy Mllin XL/FG*
>>
>> **
>>
>> **
>>
>> August 7th, 2013; shortly after Oshkosh.  A routine flight was 
>> completed, the landing was normal;  touch down on the mains, rolled 
>> for a bit and let the nose down.  When it touched it didn't feel 
>> right.  It was mushy and the nose started to wobble.  It did not feel 
>> like shimmy.  It wobbled a couple times, and then veered to the left. 
>> The right brake was applied to compensate.  The nose dropped six 
>> inches with an audible crunch.  The plane skidded down the runway.  
>> The brakes were applied hard and the airplane was kept close to the 
>> centerline.
>>
>> The gear fork failed catastrophically.  It was broken into three 
>> pieces.  The wheel was captured by the wheel pant.  It did not go 
>> through the prop.
>>
>> The primary failure was through the thickest part of the casting. 
>>  The crack did not follow any visible stress riser.  It did not 
>> intersect the gear strut hole.  There was no obvious origin point for 
>> the break.
>>
>> This fork was previously installed on the factory trainer.  It was 
>> used during the development and testing of the hydraulic shimmy 
>> damper.  When the development and testing was complete, the trainer 
>> fork was sent to me along with his damper already installed.  The 
>> complete setup was installed on N114MV.  It was on the plane for the 
>> first flight.
>>
>> The plane was flown for 8 months without a nose wheel pant.  On the 
>> first flight with a wheel pant, the damper pin sheared resulting in a 
>> shimmy.  A new, harder, pin was installed and the plane was flown for 
>> another five months without a wheel pant.  The wheel pant was 
>> reinstalled and the fork accumulated 30 takeoffs and landings before 
>> it failed.
>>
>> In the 16 months the fork was used on N114MV it did not experience a 
>> "nose first" or other notably hard landing.
>>
>> *Gear Fork Failure N568Y -- John Youngblood XL/RG*
>>
>> March 10, 2014. While attempting to land in variable wind conditions 
>> in Arizona (AWOS reported 6 kt gusts), the canard stalled over the 
>> runway and the nose of the airplane dropped.  When the nose wheel 
>> struck the fork split in two places.
>>
>>  The splits were on either side of the main boss on top of the fork. 
>> The fork arms and nose wheel departed the airplane.  The plane came 
>> to a skidding stop on the bare nose gear strut.  Ground observation 
>> of wind gusts was 0 - 20 kts.
>>
>> Five years prior, while landing at Sun-N-Fun, the aircraft suffered a 
>> violent shimmy (nose landing gear fiber lock nut was loose after 
>> tightening two flight segments prior).  The aircraft was inspected by 
>> the factory people and no crack or problem was found.  On the trip 
>> home John made a stop in Missouri.  During roll out in Joplin, the 
>> gear leg failed.  The gear leg was replaced and the plane was flown home.
>>
>> The new gear leg and original fork have been in use since.
>>
>> The surface of the gear fork had been polished.
>>
>> Both forks had years of use.  One was FG one was RG. Both forks had 
>> experienced shimmy.  Both failures were sudden and without warning.  
>> Both pilots feel fortunate there were no injuries and damage was 
>> localized to the landing gear.
>>
>> These are the only known Velocity XL gear fork failures in the fleet. 
>> Both failures have been discussed with Scott Swing.
>>
>> The pieces from my fork were shipped to the factory for inspection.  
>> This information has also been shared with other Velocity owners and 
>> builders.
>>
>> Scott Swing has been very helpful.  Both forks had experienced shimmy 
>> and at least one very hard landing.  Scott is confident in the 
>> current fork.  He understands the failures are personal for John and 
>> me and he appreciates our desire to have an even stronger fork.
>>
>> Richard Cano is flying with a fork milled from billet.  In general, a 
>> billet fork will be stronger than a cast fork. Scott Swing suggested 
>> 7075 alloy be used.  We are in the process of developing a 
>> replacement milled from billet.
>>
>> When we get closer to producing a fork, we may open the purchase to 
>> the community. It would be helpful to have an idea of how many 
>> builders and owners would be interested in purchasing the upgraded 
>> fork as that would likely impact the cost.
>>
>> The Velocity factory is not recommending you replace your fork.  I am 
>> not recommending you replace your fork. This has been provided only 
>> for your information and consideration.  If you have experienced a 
>> shimmy or have a concern about your fork, Scott has indicated he will 
>> be available to answer questions.
>>
>> /Andy Millin /
>>
>> /amillin at sbcglobal.net 
>> <mailto:amillin at sbcglobal.net?subject=re:For%20Your%20Information%20--%20Velocity%20Gear%20Fork>/
>>
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