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  #1  
Old 11-09-2007, 08:04 PM
Captain Avgas Captain Avgas is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Wink Vans acts on nosegear woes

It has been raised in the Maintenance Section that Vans has just issued a Service Letter and a Mandatory Service Bulletin relating to all two seat nosegear RVs. I am elevating this issue into the General Discussions area because I feel that it is more than a "maintenance" issue.

For more info you may find the relevant thread here:

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=23379
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Last edited by Captain Avgas : 11-10-2007 at 04:06 PM.
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  #2  
Old 11-09-2007, 08:48 PM
Rupester Rupester is offline
 
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Hmmmm. Lotta silence out there. Then again, Mom always said to not talk with your mouth full.
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  #3  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:16 PM
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Geico266 Geico266 is offline
 
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Not sure why Captain Gas is building a 7A if the little wheel in the front bothers him.

I'm not sure which "brigade" I was in, but I'll join the one that Captian Gas was NOT in.

I'll eat crow if you boil it for 6 hours (feathers and all) in your kitchen, windows closed. Call me in a week, I'll bring the Tobasco sauce.

Does anyone know if the wheel pant / gear fairing needs to be replaced also?
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Last edited by Geico266 : 11-09-2007 at 09:20 PM.
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  #4  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:19 PM
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rvbuilder2002 rvbuilder2002 is offline
 
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Location: Hubbard Oregon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Avgas View Post
Vans states that they have received no reports of any failures of the new nose gear to date.

As for the "pilot error brigade"......time to eat crow fellas.....and lots of it.... yep, feathers and all.

I fully expected that Captain Avgas would stir the pot....

It should be pointed out that at this time no one knows how many of the currently flying RV's are equipped with the new style nose fork...for this reason (at the moment anyway) the fact that no accidents have happened is of unknown value.

Maybe Van's has made a change to "protect us from ourselves".

One thing that has come to light for me in this year of 2007, as a result of this issue and many others....

is that within the pilot community as a whole, when we are self evaluating our piloting skills, we typically think we are a better pilot than we really are
(I lump my self in the same pot). This is not healthy.

BTW...I am having steak for dinner tonight, thank you very much.
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  #5  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:19 PM
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L.Adamson L.Adamson is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Avgas View Post
As for the "pilot error brigade"......time to eat crow fellas.....and lots of it.... yep, feathers and all.
Regardless....

The guy in the hangar next to mine, just passed 1200 hrs on his 6A, and not an inkling of nosewheel collapse. Perhaps he's just one of those "better" pilots!


L.Adamson
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  #6  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:27 PM
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sprucemoose sprucemoose is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002 View Post
Maybe Van's has made a change to "protect us from ourselves".
Well put. Kind of like the ill-advised FAB SB from a few years ago. A small % of pilots did not know how to handle flying in snow, so we got stuck with a SB that ended up being worse than the original problem.

Or the ill-advised fuel pickup SB?

I'm a big fan and defender of Van's designs and his engineering. One thing I've learned from SBs, is that just because there's a SB, does not mean that there was a flaw in the original design.
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  #7  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:40 PM
Bob Axsom Bob Axsom is offline
 
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Default Mine is staying as is

OK, do what you want. I understand why this change is coming about but I'm not going to change mine.

Bob Axsom
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  #8  
Old 11-09-2007, 09:52 PM
redbeardmark redbeardmark is offline
 
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Location: EDVK
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Default Premature conclusion of success?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Avgas View Post
...Vans states that they have received no reports of any failures of the new nose gear to date...
.
What percentage of RV trikes are flying the new nose gear? Perhaps when a large percentage of trikes are flying the new nose gear without any additional flip-overs, then it can be called a successful design change.

It might decrease the incidence, but probably won't eliminate the problem... for obvious reasons.
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  #9  
Old 11-09-2007, 10:23 PM
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vlittle vlittle is offline
 
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Folks, there is no longer any argument. The NTSB performed a careful analytical analysis and Van's has now followed up in response to correct a known deficiency in the design.

We have requested that Van's respond to this issue for a while, and now they have. Hopefully this eliminates the debate on pilot technique vs. design.

Digging through Van's information, I found that I need to have at least 30 lbs of baggage when fully fueled in order to conform to the recommended loading envelope on my 9A. This keeps the nose wheel loading below the maximum recommended.

This was quite a surprise, given that I routinely fly without baggage, and with full fuel. The pilot's weight is not significant in the calculations. Looks like I need a new placard!
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  #10  
Old 11-10-2007, 02:10 AM
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Barry Barry is offline
 
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It is very interesting to see this new SB. Hopefully it will eliminate or reduce the number of tip over accidents. Whether the accidents were due to "pilot error" or uneven runway surface is debatable. I personally think that both factors played a part either individually or combined. There is no doubt that raising the clearance between the bottom of the leg and the ground can only be beneficial.

It was obvious that once the NTSB had come out with an opinion Vans had to do something or risk becoming game for Mr Wolk, see the recent postings on Carburetors.

It will be interesting to take a look at the numbers say a year from now and see hopefully if this SB has made a significant improvement.

As side issue it also seems to have made our friend Captain Avgas's day and cheered him up considerably so that is something to which we can all be thankful.

Barry F-PRVM RV6A
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