dumb question--
But what is the tube diameter of the nose gear?
Tom
But what is the tube diameter of the nose gear?
Tom
Here is the way everyone should land an A to stay out of trouble...
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Tipsy-T-66-Nipper/1882796/
This does appear to be a serious problem, and not clearly always pilot error, but I'm prepared to admit that, if anything, my speed was a bit high, and maybe I didn't hold far enough back on the stick AFTER landing. I flipped over destroying everything except the wings and the instrument panel. I'll rebuild but with a better nosegear. I like what I've seen of the AntiSplat solutions, especially the new bearing. I had noticed that the conical bearings were very difficult to get freely turning and at the same time just the right tightness.
Just saying that you flipped without details...especially the surface...is not helpful.
He did say he was going a bit too fast, and not holding full aft stick.
Maybe a factor, but I doubt it was the root cause. The surface is the most likely causal factor in my opinion.
Allan, is the Ball Bearing mod mentioned above and the 'nose wheel bearing mod' on your web site the same?
The link took me to a sign-in page for Vimeo, but no video.
Just saying that you flipped without details...especially the surface...is not helpful.
Thanks for the info Ian, , one question for the population, has a RV'A model with the antisplat nosejob flipped over yet, that anyone knows of????
I will note that the number of incidents has dropped sharply since the discussion about wheel bearing/axle design. Hopefully, the anti-splat will be icing on that cake!
I installed an upgraded matco axle to my nosegear a while back. The new axle goes right through the wheel and replaces those mushroom thingies. Is the aerosplat bearing upgrade equivalent to this or does it go farther?
I also know of several flip-overs in the past year that haven't been reported here (I have seen them on the FAA daily reports, and sometimes from direct accounts from witnesses of incidents that were quickly wheeled into hangars and not reported).... so the forums are simply not a reliable data source for anything but anecdotal discussions.
I'm curious how many RV-10 flip-overs do we know of ?
F.W.I.W. - I know of one RV-7A, that had the nose wheel fold under (did not flip) on a paved runway. He was an adamant "technique, technique, technique" guys. Now he's installed the anti-splat...Seems he has changed his tune. By the way, he had lot's of RV time and a skilled pilot.
Anyone who thinks this is not a design flaw is foolish. (IMO)
"Fortunately the anti-splat mod does the trick. If you don't have the anti-splat mod, you're crazy!!"
I must be crazy or I missed something? Where is the proof? Real world testing? Statistics? Show me the proof and I'm in. Allan has a very nice video on his site, but that isn't the proof it will prevent this from happening.
I transitioned trained with Mike Seager up in Oregon on a grass strip. Average condition for a grass strip. "A" models fly out of there all the time. No "A" model flip overs to my knowledge on this grass strip.
Every morning I look at the latest NTSB accident reports. What I find interesting is that a good percentage of accidents are nose gear collapses on many GA airplanes. An interesting statistic. Is it poor flying skills? Bad hardware? I don't know but maybe there is something in these statistics that is telling us something.
I agree with Allan that with the existing nose wheel bearing/fork design you can pinch the bearing and cause additional drag on the wheel. However a simple machined spacer inserted between the two factory spacers solves that problem.
So here is some more info on this landing. I'll do the best I can to be honest with myself.
This was a grass strip almost 3,000 in length. There was a modest 7kt crosswind. I'd say it felt fairly windless as we crawled out of the inverted aircraft. There were no serious bumps to be seen but I'd have to report there was a lot of bouncing along the runway on landing. If I look at possible sources of pilot error I'd have to say I don't remember holding hard back on the stick after landing, but I normally to do that. I had the right approach speed (60-65 kts is my usual approach). In the last few moments before landing I was watching the trees either side of me and making sure I stayed straight so I didn't see my speed on touchdown. On the runout we seemed to cover a lot of ground so one possibility is that I dropped the nose to make the runway, and picked up some speed but I don't conciously recall doing that at all. It felt very normal as we touched down, with no particular concerns when the wheels made contact, neither in landing distance or attitude.
In the last three seconds I was concerned that we would run out of runway. I had never landed here before, and the end seemed awfully close compared to my home airport which is 5,000' of tarmac. I began to apply brakes which is when the trouble started. The aircraft started bouncing at the nose, and then lurched up (as though we'd hit a non-existent bump). As it came down the nosewheel seemed to bury in. Very quickly after that the propeller made contact with the ground which flipped us over.
Pending making any mods that may help, you may reduce your chance of this happening to near zero by staying on paved surfaces.
STAY OFF OF GRASS/DIRT SURFACES!
From his description I don't think the pilot did much that was wrong in this latest example. Maybe a bit fast on touchdown but the incident happened near the end of the landing roll when presumably the elevator had insufficient power to keep the nose off the ground anyway. Also I suspect the pilot had considerable back stick and this contributed to the nose lurching up. This has happened to me a few times - nearing the end of the landing, full back stick, hit the "right" bump and the nose rapidly and unexpectedly jumps up. The natural reaction is to ease the stick forward which can exacerbate the situation by making the nose come down harder. IMHO about the only thing you can do in this situation is to come off the brakes and continue to hold back stick.