Reply to John Moran:
Thanks for your thoughts, which I certainly consider worthwhile. I have been
trying to think of just such an explanation but so far failed. We had small
cracks in our frame which from the look of them have been there for some time.
It's quite possible they were produced before the dampers were fitted. We did
have one big bounce just before that time but one aftrewards too. The cracks
were only found after we were told where to look.
Your remark that the pilot wouldn't necessarily hear more than a faint rumble is
not as unlikely as it may sound. Tortional vibration in a crankshaft can be
violent enough to crack the shaft but is not felt at all through the airframe.
What does often happen on farm strips is being thrown into the air prematurely
by one bump only to descend right into the jaws of another one.
So far as I know all of the flying Europas operated without dampers for several
months.
Graham
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