N128HW, a tri-gear motorglider, is operated out of a grass strip (WN92,
Spokane, Washington). The tailplane is tight across all parameters
after 150 hours of engine time.
----- Original Message -----
From: TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
To: europa-list@matronics.com
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 6:18 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Hole Enlongation vs. Landing Gear Type
Greetings team,
As I read through the various theories of why the pin holes elongate
I'm left with a question that nobody seems to be asking (or maybe
somebody did ask and I missed it).
This is a little out of my area of expertise, but it seems rational to
me that either a mono or a conventional gear Europa, i.e., one with a
tailwheel, would transfer significantly more stress loads to the
components in the rear of the aircraft, thus leading to more wear on
everything back there. By contrast, the trigear would dampen those
stress loads by virtue of the main gear being a considerable distance
---From the parts in question, thus damping any forces transferred to the
tail area. Stresses transferred by a trigear would further be damped by
the spring action of the main gear legs and the tires (tyres).
Has anyone ever correlated pin wear to landing gear type? Are there
more mono's and conventional gear Europa's showing pin wear and or hole
elongation than trigears?
In my case, N245E, a trigear, now has a bit over 100 hours TT. About
90% of the take offs and landings thus far have been made from my grass
strip and my pip pins are still tight as a tick. I have observed no
increased play in the tailplanes and only a slight amount of play in the
trim tabs and that hasn't changed since day one. I've also looked
closely at all the hardware in the tail and I cannot detect any wear on
any components whatsoever. I know this is anecdotal at best, but it
seams reasonable for those in the know to correlate pin wear to landing
gear type as they chase down the root cause of the wear that caused the
tailplane flutter.
Regards,
John Lawton
Whitwell, TN (TN89)
N245E - Flying
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