Davestation wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 4:48 am
I'm all for replacing something that you know will inevitably break anyway, kind of like the nose gear leg although in this case way less expensive - which rules out the only potential con
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields. I haven't heard of another crack being discovered by the 200 hour dye penetrant inspection (which my aircraft is due for this annual). The way I, and the vast majority of DA40 operators fly I think it is highly unlikely that another crack will ever be found in the original design nosegear legs that remain in service.
But, the inspection is cheap and easy, so I don't want to spend $5K for a new gear leg to solve a problem which doesn't really exist...
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:22 pm
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields.
Davestation wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 4:48 am
I'm all for replacing something that you know will inevitably break anyway, kind of like the nose gear leg although in this case way less expensive - which rules out the only potential con
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields. I haven't heard of another crack being discovered by the 200 hour dye penetrant inspection (which my aircraft is due for this annual). The way I, and the vast majority of DA40 operators fly I think it is highly unlikely that another crack will ever be found in the original design nosegear legs that remain in service.
But, the inspection is cheap and easy, so I don't want to spend $5K for a new gear leg to solve a problem which doesn't really exist...
Steve
I’ve replaced at least five that were cracked, a couple almost the entire circumference. They were all operated on good runways, although most were flight school aircraft...
Davestation wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 4:48 am
I'm all for replacing something that you know will inevitably break anyway, kind of like the nose gear leg although in this case way less expensive - which rules out the only potential con
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields. I haven't heard of another crack being discovered by the 200 hour dye penetrant inspection (which my aircraft is due for this annual). The way I, and the vast majority of DA40 operators fly I think it is highly unlikely that another crack will ever be found in the original design nosegear legs that remain in service.
But, the inspection is cheap and easy, so I don't want to spend $5K for a new gear leg to solve a problem which doesn't really exist...
Steve
I’ve replaced at least five that were cracked, a couple almost the entire circumference. They were all operated on good runways, although most were flight school aircraft...
Wow, that is interesting. Searching the FAA SDR database doesn't return any reports of a failure. I'm not certain, but the one event cited in the original SB may have been outside the USA.
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:22 pm
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields.
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 11:22 pm
Wow, that is interesting. Searching the FAA SDR database doesn't return any reports of a failure. I'm not certain, but the one event cited in the original SB may have been outside the USA.
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:22 pm
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields.
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:22 pm
As far as I recall, only one nosegear leg developed a crack and failed, and that aircraft was operated almost entirely on rough fields.
Hard to tall exactly what failed. Maybe the nut or the threaded portion:
DA20 NoseGear problem.jpg
The failure point on the DA40 gear was at the junction of the machined bearing surface and the leg. Diagram from the Service Bulletin:
Nosegear.jpg (19.81 KiB) Viewed 2191 times
From the photo that Rich posted, that area of the nosegear is intact. At the resolution of the image it isn't possible to determine if the threaded portion broke, or if the nut was lost.
Steve wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 11:22 pm
Wow, that is interesting. Searching the FAA SDR database doesn't return any reports of a failure. I'm not certain, but the one event cited in the original SB may have been outside the USA.
It seems silly to submit a SDR for a known issue.
SDRs are not only to "discover" an issue, but also to determine how frequently it occurs, and sometimes even to help limit the issue to a certain date range of parts manufacture, or a certain manufacturer. In this case, the Service Bulletin was issued for a single occurrence. If it is more common (as you stated from your experience) further action (AD) might be considered. I never heard about your 5 failures...
Steve
Maybe we should change the title of this thread to Nosegear Replacement...
Steve wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 3:04 am
If it is more common (as you stated from your experience) further action (AD) might be considered. I never heard about your 5 failures...
It’s already an AD...
Sorry, I was trying to use a relatable parallel and accidentally hijacked the entire thread.