Author: "Merems" <merems@...> Time: Fri Aug 19, 2005 2:05 pm PDT Link
Gents,
I too am building an RV-7A and have been following the discussions about the recent nosewheel collapse. I am concerned about this situation as many of you are.
I have talked with Ken Krueger (Van's engineering), who I have a tremendous respect for, about some of these recent accidents. I am certain Van's Aircraft takes this situation very seriously. However if you step back and ask yourself are there a few RV'As out there that have had the highest number of landings to date, where would you find them? What kind of landing have they seen? Grass or paved runways? My best guess is these are the RV-7A and RV-9A prototypes at Van's Aircraft. Who flies these? Van's staff. Where have they landed? Grass or pavement? Both. Have they taxied on grass? Yes. Have they botched a few landing? I would think so. Now I would bet these two aircraft have 10 times or more the numbers of landing then any another RV's out there and their nose gears haven't collapsed.
I am not saying there isn't a issue, I am just giving you another view to understand possibly why Van's Aircraft appears to have "no comment" when it comes to this issue.
In all the postings about this issue, no one has mentioned the possibility of improper heat treating of the gear leg. If I recall this was an issue sometime ago with some main gear legs on RV's. This might be the root cause. This can be easily determined by sending the nose gear leg off to any qualified machine shop who can perform a hardness test on the leg. This will help determine if the gear was heat treated properly.
Food for thought.
Paul
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Author: Rob Vermeland <rvermeland@...> Time: Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:56 pm PDT Link
Paul,
I went to the 2000hr party of Paul Rosales RV-6A. His plane is still
in very good shape. There are some cracks at the front of his cowl.
He had a bird strike on the outboard leading edge of his wing, which
he managed to bend back into reasonable shape. The paint job still
looked nice. His nose gear has never had any issues and his home
strip is paved (but lots of cross wind out here in the desert!)
I doubt that Van's A models have 2000hr yet, but I imagine they will
hold up just as well.
-rob
90976 - Forward Fuselage
On Aug 19, 2005, at 1:07 PM, Merems wrote:
> Gents,
>
> I too am building an RV-7A and have been following the discussions
> about the recent nosewheel collapse. I am concerned about this
> situation as many of you are.
>
> I have talked with Ken Krueger (Van's engineering), who I have a
> tremendous respect for, about some of these recent accidents. I am
> certain Van's Aircraft takes this situation very seriously.
> However if you step back and ask yourself are there a few RV'As out
> there that have had the highest number of landings to date, where
> would you find them? What kind of landing have they seen? Grass
> or paved runways? My best guess is these are the RV-7A and RV-9A
> prototypes at Van's Aircraft. Who flies these? Van's staff.
> Where have they landed? Grass or pavement? Both. Have they taxied
> on grass? Yes. Have they botched a few landing? I would think
> so. Now I would bet these two aircraft have 10 times or more the
> numbers of landing then any another RV's out there and their nose
> gears haven't collapsed.
>
> I am not saying there isn't a issue, I am just giving you another
> view to understand possibly why Van's Aircraft appears to have "no
> comment" when it comes to this issue.
>
> In all the postings about this issue, no one has mentioned the
> possibility of improper heat treating of the gear leg. If I recall
> this was an issue sometime ago with some main gear legs on RV's.
> This might be the root cause. This can be easily determined by
> sending the nose gear leg off to any qualified machine shop who can
> perform a hardness test on the leg. This will help determine if
> the gear was heat treated properly.
>
> Food for thought.
>
> Paul
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------
> ~-->
> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your
> home page
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/1yWplB/TM
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> ~-
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