MrNomad
Well Known Member
More info from the nose gear incident
Since the front gear bent on my 9A, I've received many emails and lots of advice. Most of it was pretty useful but some people were downright $%#@ and incorrect. Let's separate fiction from fact.
To the fellow who emailed that the "crank won't bend from a low rpm strike." Wrong, my crank is bent at the flange. If it can be straightened w/o cracking, it's $400 plus $$ already spent to measure & dial. Lycoming cranks are not hardened at the flange, unlike Continentals. Lycomings can be straightened. We'll see, my fingers and toes are crossed.
To the fellow who commented that the engine mount never breaks? Wrong, the engine mount has one tiny crack. JET WELD in Chandler will fix it and then it will be magnafluxed (again) to confirm.
For those who criticized AES in Chandler, AZ? Dead wrong, those guys were great, they let me help split the case and dial the crank. "Professional" and "expert" is how I'd describe Chuck Estergaard and his fellows.
For those who sent the suggestion: "You can split the case by tapping the bolts". Wrong, AES in Chandler used two cut down connecting rods & two presses driven by a breaker bar to split the case. Had I tried screwdrivers and pounding, I would have disfigured a beautiful piece of art work, my case.
Then there was the advice which said you can magnaflux w/o removing paint. Wrong, if you want to see the cracks, remove the paint & powder coat which comes off with Home Depot stripper. At $75 an hour, strip the paint before you contract magnafluxing.
For the many people who offered the following free advice on my bent prop: "No problem, I've seen worse props get straightened". Wrong, Warner prop shop says there's too much material on a Sensenich prop to easily bend it back. He doubts he'll be able to fix it. Cost: $180 to try, $720 to overhaul, $2000 approx to replace. Again, my fingers and toes are crossed.
And the preventative measures I've received via email have been hot and heavy. Trim the bearing felt, pin the bushings, sleeve them, buy a Matco wheel, convert to a tail dragger, add maple to stiffen the front gear leg, wrap it in fiberglass, go back to an old gear, place a jock strap over the gear, convert the front wheel pant into a skid plate, add material to the inside of the wheel pant so it sacrifices its life, don't land on grass, etc.
Fortunately, I'm blessed with a great circle of intelligent & experienced pilot friends. We're considering all of these ideas and applying the best possible remedies.
But there always has to be one "bottom of the barrel". The most offensive post was the suggestion that I change the wording in my original submission to PILOT BENDS NOSE GEAR. He's right, I deliberately bent my front gear (sic). Not only did I bend the nose gear on purpose (sic), this old man with a bad back un-bent it using a pipe wrench, an extension, and a helper. I deliberately decided to trash 18 months of 7 days a week, 12 hour days, $72k+/-, 64 hours of flying the 9A with 129 landings at many different airports, and intentionally bent the gear to scare the dickens out of my wonderful wife of 39 years.
It worked. She refuses to fly and is already going nuts with the latest round of bills. And to add to the excitement of sliding down a runway looking down at the ground thanks to a collapsed main gear, I now have the pleasure (sic) of rebuilding my beautiful toy at another $4,500 to $12,000, disassembling the airplane, and reassembling it during the Tucson summer.
Ok, my venting is now complete.
You may have noticed I have not bashed the vendor (I love the airplane) . Building your own airplane from a box of parts, and flying the 9 is something few people will ever experience in their lifetime, but some comparisons are in order. When my Dynon D180 failed to boot off battery after rev 4 software was loaded, the vendor called me and sent a patch. When my new $3,000 Garmin SL30 reception was inadequate, the vendor gave us several suggestions how to improve reception which remedied the problem. Virtually every vendor, including Vans, was helpful during the 18 month build process. Why Vans has not called me to interview me since my initial report, despite thousands of hits and hundreds of posts, remains a mystery.
Finally, I have answered every email including one that just arrived from a fellow serving in Iraq. I posted pictures on my website so others can weigh in. Rather than submit "un"-constructive criticism (I got a few of those), I urge those experts with many more hours than me to document, photograph, and demonstrate any and all flying techniques so that others can avoid the miserable grief and expense I'm going thru. If you know Van, try to promulgate a volunteer study group that can fully examine the issue in an organized way so that we achieve solutions rather than criticism and/or speculation. IF I made a mistake (and that's a big IF), help me identify and correct because as we all know, flying airplanes is not exactly the most forgiving hobby. As my tech counselor Gil Alexander will attest, my good friend Chet and I welcomed constructive criticism during the 18 month build cycle. We invited experts to examine the plane and offer any criticism they had. After each visit from Gil and other sophisticated builders we always had a Honey Doo list for which we said "thank you". The goal was a perfect airplane, no shortcuts were taken, no junk installed.
My wife agreed to this project because she's seen the many classic cars I've built and trophies we've won. I also thank Roberta for her phone calls and expert advice.
The 9A is a lot of fun. It's proven economical, responsive, easy to fly, plans were readable, vendor support acceptable, and Doug's website invaluable. W/o Doug's website, I suspect few airplanes would ever see the light of day. If you're reading this post but have not sent in your annual $25, (fill in your own answer here).
Barry
Tucson
Since the front gear bent on my 9A, I've received many emails and lots of advice. Most of it was pretty useful but some people were downright $%#@ and incorrect. Let's separate fiction from fact.
To the fellow who emailed that the "crank won't bend from a low rpm strike." Wrong, my crank is bent at the flange. If it can be straightened w/o cracking, it's $400 plus $$ already spent to measure & dial. Lycoming cranks are not hardened at the flange, unlike Continentals. Lycomings can be straightened. We'll see, my fingers and toes are crossed.
To the fellow who commented that the engine mount never breaks? Wrong, the engine mount has one tiny crack. JET WELD in Chandler will fix it and then it will be magnafluxed (again) to confirm.
For those who criticized AES in Chandler, AZ? Dead wrong, those guys were great, they let me help split the case and dial the crank. "Professional" and "expert" is how I'd describe Chuck Estergaard and his fellows.
For those who sent the suggestion: "You can split the case by tapping the bolts". Wrong, AES in Chandler used two cut down connecting rods & two presses driven by a breaker bar to split the case. Had I tried screwdrivers and pounding, I would have disfigured a beautiful piece of art work, my case.
Then there was the advice which said you can magnaflux w/o removing paint. Wrong, if you want to see the cracks, remove the paint & powder coat which comes off with Home Depot stripper. At $75 an hour, strip the paint before you contract magnafluxing.
For the many people who offered the following free advice on my bent prop: "No problem, I've seen worse props get straightened". Wrong, Warner prop shop says there's too much material on a Sensenich prop to easily bend it back. He doubts he'll be able to fix it. Cost: $180 to try, $720 to overhaul, $2000 approx to replace. Again, my fingers and toes are crossed.
And the preventative measures I've received via email have been hot and heavy. Trim the bearing felt, pin the bushings, sleeve them, buy a Matco wheel, convert to a tail dragger, add maple to stiffen the front gear leg, wrap it in fiberglass, go back to an old gear, place a jock strap over the gear, convert the front wheel pant into a skid plate, add material to the inside of the wheel pant so it sacrifices its life, don't land on grass, etc.
Fortunately, I'm blessed with a great circle of intelligent & experienced pilot friends. We're considering all of these ideas and applying the best possible remedies.
But there always has to be one "bottom of the barrel". The most offensive post was the suggestion that I change the wording in my original submission to PILOT BENDS NOSE GEAR. He's right, I deliberately bent my front gear (sic). Not only did I bend the nose gear on purpose (sic), this old man with a bad back un-bent it using a pipe wrench, an extension, and a helper. I deliberately decided to trash 18 months of 7 days a week, 12 hour days, $72k+/-, 64 hours of flying the 9A with 129 landings at many different airports, and intentionally bent the gear to scare the dickens out of my wonderful wife of 39 years.
It worked. She refuses to fly and is already going nuts with the latest round of bills. And to add to the excitement of sliding down a runway looking down at the ground thanks to a collapsed main gear, I now have the pleasure (sic) of rebuilding my beautiful toy at another $4,500 to $12,000, disassembling the airplane, and reassembling it during the Tucson summer.
Ok, my venting is now complete.
You may have noticed I have not bashed the vendor (I love the airplane) . Building your own airplane from a box of parts, and flying the 9 is something few people will ever experience in their lifetime, but some comparisons are in order. When my Dynon D180 failed to boot off battery after rev 4 software was loaded, the vendor called me and sent a patch. When my new $3,000 Garmin SL30 reception was inadequate, the vendor gave us several suggestions how to improve reception which remedied the problem. Virtually every vendor, including Vans, was helpful during the 18 month build process. Why Vans has not called me to interview me since my initial report, despite thousands of hits and hundreds of posts, remains a mystery.
Finally, I have answered every email including one that just arrived from a fellow serving in Iraq. I posted pictures on my website so others can weigh in. Rather than submit "un"-constructive criticism (I got a few of those), I urge those experts with many more hours than me to document, photograph, and demonstrate any and all flying techniques so that others can avoid the miserable grief and expense I'm going thru. If you know Van, try to promulgate a volunteer study group that can fully examine the issue in an organized way so that we achieve solutions rather than criticism and/or speculation. IF I made a mistake (and that's a big IF), help me identify and correct because as we all know, flying airplanes is not exactly the most forgiving hobby. As my tech counselor Gil Alexander will attest, my good friend Chet and I welcomed constructive criticism during the 18 month build cycle. We invited experts to examine the plane and offer any criticism they had. After each visit from Gil and other sophisticated builders we always had a Honey Doo list for which we said "thank you". The goal was a perfect airplane, no shortcuts were taken, no junk installed.
My wife agreed to this project because she's seen the many classic cars I've built and trophies we've won. I also thank Roberta for her phone calls and expert advice.
The 9A is a lot of fun. It's proven economical, responsive, easy to fly, plans were readable, vendor support acceptable, and Doug's website invaluable. W/o Doug's website, I suspect few airplanes would ever see the light of day. If you're reading this post but have not sent in your annual $25, (fill in your own answer here).
Barry
Tucson
Yet with six landings in a 9A two days ago, and more a few days before that................. I just didn't seem to get bothered at all. 
