Wobely nose stick.

That's what I call it anyway, so, the other day I had the engine temp mounted to do the cowl work, and just trying to push, pull maneuver the fuse around the garage, I noticed how flimsy this nose gear is, now I see, without ever flying one of these, that I am going to have to be very carful with it, I can see how easy this would be to fold up, definitely going with Allen's mods here. if I had prior tail wheel experience before starting this journey, I think I would have gone with the - model......

I met my wife when she managed the US Bank in Vernonia OR, I would fly in, in my RV-4 and park next to Mike Seager?s hanger and go visit in town, Mike even gave me a ride to town in his Model T Ford one time.

About mid field, just west of Mike?s hanger they had dug a ditch across the runway to do some sort of work, after they covered it up it sunk quite a bit and made quite a dip or maybe two dips across the runway, Not an insignificant dip, it should have been fixed, maybe they have fixed it by now. So one day I?m hanging out at the airport watching Mike with a student in the old blue RV-6-A, two or three times it lands and doesn?t get stopped before the dip, the airplane is traveling at maybe 20mph it hits the dip and rocks from nose to tail several times and you hear BANG each time the nose wheel hits the runway, BANG BANG BANG, they kept on flying and began stopping short of the dip and it?s still flying today, I know there have been problems for some but after seeing this I thought maybe it?s tougher than I thought it was.

Interesting, I have never heard that story, or any complement of any kind with this nose wheel. it seams to be like one big spring, a HARD spring at that, just did the taper pin reaming just now.....sitting here taking a break from that workout...........another thread.....

The good news is, the way the 7A and 9A handle it's really easy to both baby the nosewheel and make good landings every time. My 9A is easier to land (notice I did NOT say slow down ) than any of the several 172s I flew in over the years. ... some of that, of course, is high wing vs low wing, but RVs are docile handling airplanes.

It's possible to break the nose gear off any aircraft with enough hamfistedness. (Is that a word)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3KXhJGhck

The key to success with any aircraft, especially an RV, is to get the appropriate training in the aircraft. That's why Van's insists on Transition Training. Once you have the proper tools, takeoffs and landings will be precise, predictable, and of course safer. Ignore the training and, well... watch the video again...

After logging several thousand hours in TW and NW RV's of all models, off all types of surfaces/winds/conditions, I can assure you that the nosegear is appropriately designed as it is delivered in the kit. Properly maintained and flown, it will give years of trouble free service. Ignore training and maintenance, then your results will be less than optimal.

Anti splat nose gear stiffener and wood "baseboard" stiffeners on mains


https://www.dropbox.com/s/6fuyz75wk1hxnk0/Rv9 is GO.mp4?dl=0

Rupester said:

The good news is, the way the 7A and 9A handle it's really easy to both baby the nosewheel and make good landings every time. My 9A is easier to land (notice I did NOT say slow down ) than any of the several 172s I flew in over the years. ... some of that, of course, is high wing vs low wing, but RVs are docile handling airplanes.

Click to expand...

This is true, and it's all about approach speed . I did take notice of the small ditch at Veronia also and even questioned Mike about it when I was training in the blue RV ,he just brushed it off no big deal. I would advise checking the nose leg bolt regularly for tork and pull the tail down and give the leg a shake every now and then to check that it's not moving were it shouldn't be like left to right thats something I do fairly often ,also , this is a big one , avoid those deep tie down divits in the Tarmac you see at many airports they could ruin your day for sure . Taxi slow like like Mike instructs. I also installed Allens nose leg attachment .