RV-10 Nose Gear problem

[Bill.Peyton]

I inspected ours this morning and found no issues. I think I'll wait and see what Vans has to say for a fix. I have 300 hours on the airframe, all on hard surface runways.

[Jesse]

Originally Posted by ajay

I don't know if it at all related, but I was looking at the antisplataero.com "nose job" reinforcement. Probably more of a problem for the 2 seater A models, but I think the 10 could use some extra reinforcement if you fly a lot of unimproved airstrips.

ajay

The AntiSplat devise would do nothing for a -10. I know of 2 cases where the nose gear has folded under and both times it was the strut with the rubbed donuts that tore off the bolt that goes on the hat and folded back. There has been some damage to the gear leg, but nothing substantial. Needless to say, in both of these cases the prop struck and the engine mount and firewall had to be replaced. They were both extreme situations, not on a runway from a hard landing or excessive braking. The -10 uses these rubber donuts for the shock absorption, where the other planes use the flex of the nose leg itself for the shock absorption.

[ajay]

Originally Posted by Jesse

The AntiSplat devise would do nothing for a -10. I know of 2 cases where the nose gear has folded under and both times it was the strut with the rubbed donuts that tore off the bolt that goes on the hat and folded back. There has been some damage to the gear leg, but nothing substantial. Needless to say, in both of these cases the prop struck and the engine mount and firewall had to be replaced. They were both extreme situations, not on a runway from a hard landing or excessive braking. The -10 uses these rubber donuts for the shock absorption, where the other planes use the flex of the nose leg itself for the shock absorption.

Good data points Jesse, I guess the only thing you can do is ride a wheelie!

[Jesse]

Vic's problem is disturbing. The truth be told, one of the two accidents I mentioned looked very similar to Vic's pictures, but that was after the plane went into the ditch and the nose gear folded back, so I think the cracking was caused by the accident.

[douglassmt]

I disassembled mine today - it was easier than I thought with the help of #2 son - and all looked fine, no evidence at all of failure of The Lord plate or the cup.
Pictures of the top before disassembly:


(The black spot is a drop of oil)

Picture of top of "cup" after disassembly:


Picture of bottom of "cup" after disassembly:

The mottling is just wear of the powder coat. I greased this area with Lithium grease but I saw no evidence of cracks or deformation.
Note slight abrasion to two welds at 4:00 and 7:00, which is where the brass disc on the top Lord was conflicting slightly.

The brass disc on the top of the top Lord was slightly deformed in two places at the outer edge where it had been in slight contact with two welds on the "cup."
Pic of affected Lord disc:


I flipped some of the Lord cushions around and greased everything with some lithium grease then put it back together. I relieved the edge of the new top brass disc to prevent conflicting with the welds. The 4 lord cushions were exactly 4.25" uncompressed.

I was able to easily add the second washer, but there was no play in that area when I lifted the nose off the ground and moved the gear leg up and down prior to disassembly. All the play seemed to be in the bushing, but it wasn't much.

580 hours TT, 99% on good hard surface. I always aim for good Mike Seager nose wheel discipline as Vic described.

[N402RH]

I took mine completely apart to inspect it and found no signs of cracks. I decided to replace the 4 rubber bushings with new ones since they were compressed.


I have 998.8 hours on it, most of it off of our grass runway.

Should roll over to 1000 hours this week.

Rob Hickman
N402RH RV-10

[Mike S]

Rob, Vic---------what vintage kits do you two have....or serial number would be fine also.

Thanks.

[aeronca]

mine (well it used to be mine) did the same exact thing recently, identicle to the pics posted here.
mine faier completely and the nose gear would try to fall out of the mount after liftoff. didnt catch it right away, the only thing that saved the aircraft was about 1/8 of bolt thread which was just a little too long to pass through the cup opening on its way down. it was bending and i guess about 5 to 10 more flights we would have lost the airplane on landing.
the tech guy at vans says thats the first hes heard of it.
the plabe does go on grass and rough strips from time to time.
those cracks are classic fatigue symptoms. i had an aerospace welder make a thicker bottom plate and put a reinforcing ring internally. should have the engine back on this week.

Louis Palmenteri
RV-6, 10 building -8

[vic syracuse]

Serial number is 40229, completed 5 years ago this December.

Vic

[aeronca]

if i was building an rv-10 there is no way id put the current mount on my plane without beefing it up. it is so much work to take the engine and mount off 3 or 400 hours down the road.