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  #1  
Old 02-09-2014, 03:52 PM
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flytoday flytoday is offline
 
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Default Failure of Nose Gear (now with bolt pics)

RV6A, 1995, O320, constant speed prop, almost 1200 hrs TTAE



Failure in shear of the bolt at the top of the strut during taxi. Strut rotated 180 degrees. I'm told by a more experienced RV owner that this may be a rare event. When I'm flying again I'll be checking or replacing the bolt regularly!

Carl
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  #2  
Old 02-09-2014, 04:00 PM
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Default Thanks for the post

First time I have heard of this particular failure -- just installed my Antisplat gear leg reinforcement ---- now I need to look at the mounting bolt.
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Old 02-09-2014, 04:02 PM
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Wow that's not fun thanks for sharing Carl. My nose gear takes a beating on regular basis I will check the bolt immediately next time I am in the hangar.
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Old 02-09-2014, 04:26 PM
jongurley jongurley is offline
 
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That is weird.. I don't know the math but how much pressure would it take to shear that bolt .. thats amazing.
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  #5  
Old 02-09-2014, 04:28 PM
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I have seen the bolts holding the tailwheel knuckle to the spring shear before - the tailwheel rotates around 90 degrees and the plane settles when that happens. Those are a pair of AN3's. Never heard of Carl's failure before.
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  #6  
Old 02-09-2014, 04:52 PM
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Default Not the first

I have seen another RV-6A that had the same bolt shear.
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  #7  
Old 02-09-2014, 04:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flytoday View Post
Failure in shear of the bolt at the top of the strut during taxi.
Did you actually find the bolt sheared, or was the bolt missing and you deduced that it must have sheared???

Have you ever had the "shopping cart" wobble on the wheel??

Hard to imaging how that bolt could get enough loading to shear it.
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Old 02-09-2014, 04:54 PM
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rather than failure in shear, is it possible that the nut came off and the bolt backed out?
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Old 02-09-2014, 04:57 PM
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Could it be possible to overtigthen/overstretch the bolt to weaken enough for shear failure? I can picture myself doing it.
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  #10  
Old 02-09-2014, 04:58 PM
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I recovered the sheared bolt and a washer from under the plane. Bolt end had the nut still on it. I might be able to informally get a lab to examine the failure plane. No prior shopping cart wobble.
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Last edited by flytoday : 02-09-2014 at 05:00 PM.
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