Nose gear recurring AD

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nathanda40
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Nose gear recurring AD

Post by nathanda40 »

Our 2002 DA40 has the "old" style nosegear which requires repeated inspections per the AD.
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... -10-04.pdf

It's in the shop for an annual and we are trying to decide if it is best to just swap it now or if we are likely to get plenty of use out of it. Those of you who have made this call, what are your thoughts? Our aircraft is not a trainer but it's a club plane where people do occasionally do pattern work on only paved runways.
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Rich
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Rich »

We've been dutifully inspecting all these years and so far, no problem. Perhaps you're aware that the replacement part originally provided has itself been superseded.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Steve
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Steve »

My 2001 model still has the original part. My landings are so smooth, I never was motivated to replace it... ;)

We just do the dye penetrant inspection every 200 hours during the Annual, my A&P/IA doesn't charge me any more to do it.

Steve
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Rich
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Rich »

Poor pilot technique can definitely increase stress on nose wheels and related structures of all types. I see videos of "smooth" landings where the technique is to drive it on on all 3 wheels simultaneously. Watching the daily FAA incident reports I see quite a number of "gear collapsed on landing" incidents. And yes, it includes fixed-gear Diamond nose gear.

One exception: PA28-140 gear seems to be absurdly strong. One time a guy flying mine came in low to what was then RWY34 at Idaho Falls and took out iron fencing wire at the Southern airport perimeter with the nose wheel strut. He never noticed and the only indication was the wire that remained wrapped around the strut. It was noticed by the next guy flying it.

Then there was a student of mine that panicked and tried to force my C150 down onto the runway, as she was far too fast:
2623J.jpg
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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danno2000
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by danno2000 »

nathanda40 wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 5:12 pm Our 2002 DA40 has the "old" style nosegear which requires repeated inspections per the AD.
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... -10-04.pdf

It's in the shop for an annual and we are trying to decide if it is best to just swap it now or if we are likely to get plenty of use out of it. Those of you who have made this call, what are your thoughts? Our aircraft is not a trainer but it's a club plane where people do occasionally do pattern work on only paved runways.
This got flagged for me in this year’s annual. 4 to 6 week lead time for the replacement. Not very happy at the moment.

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Davestation
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Davestation »

I would consider not just the fact that it could fail inevitably and you’d have to replace it anyway, but also how much the repetitive inspection costs. You could order one and install it at your convenience, then there’s no more lost sleep. IIRC they aren’t all that expensive.
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Rich
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Rich »

The cost for me for the inspections has been negligible. OK, zero. No additional charge during owner-assisted annuals. Then there’s the issue that the original fix has now been deemed insufficient, so procrastination has been worthwhile in any case.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Davestation
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Davestation »

Rich wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 2:24 am The cost for me for the inspections has been negligible.
In that case I revert back to the original argument, assuming you do eventually need one, how long will the plane be grounded for? For some the lost sleep factor is huge. And I’ve not heard of one snapping off and causing a prop strike, but I’m sure it’s happened.
Rich wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 2:24 am Then there’s the issue that the original fix has now been deemed insufficient
Please elaborate. I thought the AD originated with non-suffixed gear legs and is unchanged since. The part has undergone other revisions, but since the -1 included a larger radius in the corner to distribute the load more evenly, cracks have not been a concern.
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Steve
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by Steve »

David:

Here is the revised MSB:

http://support.diamond-air.at/fileadmin ... ection.pdf

It applies to D41-3223-10-00 and D41-3223-10-00_1 nose gear legs. The D41-3223-10-00_2 parts are exempt. Originally, replacement with the D41-3223-10-00_1 part was the terminating action.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am content to do the repetitive dye penetrant inspection (about every third Annual Inspection in my case), and since my aircraft isn't used for flight instruction, I'm pretty confident I won't experience an undetected crack.

Steve
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mhoran
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Re: Nose gear recurring AD

Post by mhoran »

Apparently our original 2007 nose gear leg just failed the inspection. Don't yet have an estimate on cost nor downtime. Hoping it'll be better than 4 to 6 weeks but I'm expecting many thousands of dollars. So frustrating, since we just got the plane back after six months of downtime due to overhaul. Looks like a $15k+ annual.
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