Low n Slow
Well Known Member
I?m a new RV pilot with about 25 hours in the -4 I bought a 50% share in a few months ago.
Last week after making a good approach and 3 point landing, while rolling out I found I had no right rudder. As I was approaching the left side of the runway, I finally started to apply right brake, but not before my left main went off the edge of the runway. Luckily, there was no damage, except my embarrassment, but it could have ended very differently.
I think years of being warned about over braking just after landing for fear of nosing over (including just recently during my RV checkout), was a factor in my hesitation. Lesson learned, next time I?ll be much more aggressive and use the brakes as needed.
Later after checking and finding no problems or interferences with the tailwheel, control arm, chains, rudder horn or rudder stop and cable, I pulled the Avionics panel to check the pedals. The castellated nut on the bolt that acts as the right brake outboard clevis pin, had vibrated off. This allowed the head of the bolt to back out enough to hit the outboard edge of the right foot well (see photo) which prevented the rudder going beyond the center position. I haven?t had the chance to check other -4?s since this happened, but on ours there?s minimum clearance here. We noticed that on the left side it looked like that area was pounded outboard a little for more clearance, but this wasn?t done on the right.
After a careful search of the foot well and floor, I came up with the nut and washer, but no cotter pin. Let me say that we?re very happy with the overall workmanship on this plane, and I don?t regret for a minute buying an experimental as flying it has been one of my greatest pleasures since I started flying. But almost everyone I tell this story to seems to have the same thought, ?What other cotter pins are missing?? Of course this in an area that once assembled, is very hard to see and inspect.
I?ve been flying certified aircraft since 85?, approx 960 hours (all but about 200 in taildraggers) without any major systems failure, yet in only 25 hours I?ve had this and a complete left brake failure (total loss of fluid) that I caught during a pre-flight. As my mechanic said, ??welcome to the world of experimental aviation!? There are so many little items that can ruin your whole day if overlooked this is a great example of that famous saying about the unforgiving nature of aviation.
Hopefully this story can benefit those building, inspecting and for those like me, who?re transitioning from the certified world looking to buy a flying RV.
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Tom
RV-4
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Last week after making a good approach and 3 point landing, while rolling out I found I had no right rudder. As I was approaching the left side of the runway, I finally started to apply right brake, but not before my left main went off the edge of the runway. Luckily, there was no damage, except my embarrassment, but it could have ended very differently.
I think years of being warned about over braking just after landing for fear of nosing over (including just recently during my RV checkout), was a factor in my hesitation. Lesson learned, next time I?ll be much more aggressive and use the brakes as needed.
Later after checking and finding no problems or interferences with the tailwheel, control arm, chains, rudder horn or rudder stop and cable, I pulled the Avionics panel to check the pedals. The castellated nut on the bolt that acts as the right brake outboard clevis pin, had vibrated off. This allowed the head of the bolt to back out enough to hit the outboard edge of the right foot well (see photo) which prevented the rudder going beyond the center position. I haven?t had the chance to check other -4?s since this happened, but on ours there?s minimum clearance here. We noticed that on the left side it looked like that area was pounded outboard a little for more clearance, but this wasn?t done on the right.
After a careful search of the foot well and floor, I came up with the nut and washer, but no cotter pin. Let me say that we?re very happy with the overall workmanship on this plane, and I don?t regret for a minute buying an experimental as flying it has been one of my greatest pleasures since I started flying. But almost everyone I tell this story to seems to have the same thought, ?What other cotter pins are missing?? Of course this in an area that once assembled, is very hard to see and inspect.
I?ve been flying certified aircraft since 85?, approx 960 hours (all but about 200 in taildraggers) without any major systems failure, yet in only 25 hours I?ve had this and a complete left brake failure (total loss of fluid) that I caught during a pre-flight. As my mechanic said, ??welcome to the world of experimental aviation!? There are so many little items that can ruin your whole day if overlooked this is a great example of that famous saying about the unforgiving nature of aviation.
Hopefully this story can benefit those building, inspecting and for those like me, who?re transitioning from the certified world looking to buy a flying RV.
![2005239115714865024_rs.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fallyoucanupload.webshots.com%2Fv%2F2005239115714865024%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Faycu25.webshots.com%2Fimage%2F27584%2F2005239115714865024_rs.jpg&hash=51e4d17b3d8bfa79173cf55f8a0c1a2f)
Tom
RV-4
![2003251915324608632_rs.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fallyoucanupload.webshots.com%2Fv%2F2003251915324608632%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Faycu32.webshots.com%2Fimage%2F25111%2F2003251915324608632_rs.jpg&hash=eee0a939ff681fa74aa2c0fefa5fe6af)
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