For what it's worth, I had the same exact experience. My solution was to c
onvert to Tri Gear. Frustrating and expensive indeed=0APaul Boulet N914PB
=0A=0A----- Original Message ----=0AFrom: Graeme Smith <gcsmith@flyer.co.uk
>=0ATo: europa-list@matronics.com=0ASent: Friday, February 23, 2007 2:26:29
PM=0ASubject: Europa-List: Undercarriage Overcentre Locking=0A=0A=0A=0A
=0A=0A=0A=0AGreetings,=0A=0A =0A=0AHaving =0Asuffered an undercarriage coll
apse during the takeoff roll on my monowheel, I am =0Anow pondering what co
rrective actions to take to prevent a re-ocurrence. As far =0Aas I can figu
re out, the overcentre locking went 'under centre' when the =0Aaircraft wen
t over a large 'ski-jump undulation' at just below flying speed on =0Atakeo
ff from a grass strip. Having spent a lot of time and money cleaning up the
=0Amess and fitting a new prop etc, I'm reluctant to go flying again, even
if I =0Aconfine my operations to an absolutely glass-smooth runway, until
I understand =0Awhy it happened in the first place and =0Ahave some degree
of confidence that it won't happen again. =0A=0A=0A =0A=0AI've looked =0Afo
r any possible 'builder variations' in this area to see if there is anythin
g =0Athat I could have screwed up, but it seems that the geometry in this a
rea is =0Atotally determined by the manufacture of the landing gear frame a
nd the u/c =0Acomponents, what's more, this area has been rigorously inspec
ted on several =0Aoccasions by some very fastidious inspectors. (although m
y landing gear frame =0Awas modified in the factory to add reinforcing foll
owing some very early landing =0Aframe failures, it's possible that the geo
metry was affected during this mod). =0AAre any other mono owners aware of
the =0Aamount of overcentre on their installations, it would be interesting
to see if =0Athere is much variation.=0A=0A =0A=0AOn my aircraft, the =0Ad
egree of overcentre in the 'down and locked' position is 1/64 =0Aof hardly
anything at all, (i.e. very small) =0Aand it occurs to me that shaving a fe
w mm off the stops on the landing =0Agear frame would be a good way of incr
easing the security of the overcentre =0Alocking.=0A=0A =0A=0AQuestion: has
anyone =0Atried this? Can anyone think of a reason why not?=0A=0A =0A=0ARe
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