Amazing video of RV nose gear collapse shot with GoPro

[emsvitil]

I know the 10's and 14's have a redesigned nose-gear, and it's now on the 7,8 and 9.

Do the 12's have this problem?

[jakej]

Yep, certainly more possible if the pilots do poor landings.

[DeeCee 57]

One thing I realized whilst watching and reading the different vids and reports available, is the propensity of the -A series to flip on their back once the nose gear is damaged, instead of just sliding ahead like most other trigear aicraft do.
Example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sgPXFE114g

I guess we all know that the -A has to be handled with care, but I for one couldn?t garantee to always make that perfect touchdown, specially when flying in blustery conditions? if you can good for you, if not, good luck!

[ChiefPilot]

Originally Posted by yarddart

a vans rv6a Made a beautiful landing nose wheel off the ground slowed up and then flipped over on on grass . bob Hoover said never fly the A model just saying.

Threads like this in general, and daft comments like this in particular, are examples of why I don’t find much value in the general discussion area here.

[Captain Avgas]

I?ll tell you what this video says to me. It says that if you have a nosegear RV you?d better be right on top of your firewall forward maintenance...because you do not want that engine to quit...it?s your heart pacemaker.

In an off-field forced landing the surface conditions, the wind direction, and the speed of the approach are all likely to be less than optimum. And then there?s the pressure degrading the pilot?s skills. In those conditions it is unlikely that you will do a landing any better than Ian Smith?s landing.

So the video tells me that your chances of pulling off an off-field forced landing without collapsing the nosegear and flipping over are not good. I think the accident reports on VansAirforce over many years confirms that.

[Walt]

Don't want to get into the 'A' vs TD but a few notes on the 'A' model that have been discussed before but may bear repeating.

I've seen a number of 6A's with the old fork, crappy nose wheel/fairing etc., these are critical components on the 'A models just like proper mntc. of the tailwheel to prevent ground loops. (I'd be curious to know which components the accident aircraft had).

To stack the deck in your favor my suggestions are:
1) replace the POS original nose wheel assy with a quality wheel/bearing/solid axle setup.
2) make sure you have the new style fork installed.
3) maintain air pressure in the nose tire, I run 45-50psi and chk regularly
4) I have the nose brace installed, maybe it will help and probably doesn't hurt except for the small weight penalty.



Notice how high I cut my front fairing, I also filled the lower portion of the fairing under the nut so that if the fairing does drag the fairing will act as a 'skid'. The bottom of the front fairing is very close to the axel, about as high as I could go. Also note how high the tire sits with proper air pressure.

[RhinoDrvr]

Originally Posted by N941WR

This brings up an interesting question, do the taildraggers suffer more ground loops than tricycles flip-over?

The flip-overs get all the press but I rarely hear about ground loops and I'm sure they happen. I suspect the insurance companies might have statistics on this because if the A's were such a risk, they would have higher initial insurance rates.

As a tailwheel guy, part of my calculus was that a ground loop might be slightly more likely, but the consequences wouldn?t be as serious. I?d rather end up with an insurance claim for bent metal after a ground loop, than be upside down trying to figure out a way to egress the airplane with serious injuries.

That said, misuse of the brakes can put the taildraggers on their back...but knock on wood I haven?t seen many instances of that in the RV series.

You?ll get no knock from me on the A models. They?re fantastic airplanes and we each need to pick which configuration best meets out needs. Whichever you choose, we need to understand the limitations and do our best to guard the airframe from damage, be it from lost directional control in the tailwheel, or nosewheel abuse in the nosedragger.

I will say that tailwheel pilots seem more likely to go around than their nosewheel counterparts, but that could just be a false perception on my part.

[DeeCee 57]

interestingly, some of them -A can take quite some beating without breaking, as seen in this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJP674OiJQ0

Scroll to 5:10 for the landing phase...

[NewbRVator]

I have a RV6A and love it but when I fly into a turf, dirt, or sketchy asphalt strip I would much rather be in a tailwheel that’s for sure.

[rv6n6r]

I read this whole thread intending to chime in on some things that seemed to be missing or spread out among the other discussions... then got to Walt's post. If you have or are building an -A model, that's a must read.

Critically, no one should be flying an early -A model RV around without having complied with Van's SB 07-11-09. I didn't see in the video or reports whether that was a factor there, but for avoiding nose wheel collapses that's the very first thing.