Hi Monowheel drivers,
I broke one outrigger leg two months ago and flew for a while with an emergency
repair designed on site just to allow me to go back home: the repair was made
using the existing remains of the nylon rod lengthened with scrap aluminum
tubing.
When I finally received the nylon rods ordered from the Europa factory I
could not use them because they were slightly too short and badly machined. So
I ordered a length of 1"1/4 Nylon from ACS and installed them immediately. At
the first landing, one of the all new legs broke just at mid length. I was very
embarassed as this happened on a big airport were I had the honor of a jumbo
eight wheeler fire truck! This time I managed to repair quickly as I was
carrying
the old emergency repaired rod in the aircraft. I am now afraid of flying
with the aircraft as it is, as an out rigger leg can break again at the next
landing.
My questions:
- How is that possible that a new nylon rod breaks at the very first landing
while
the original parts have been able to withstand 12 years of aging, 950 flight
hours and probably one or two thousand landings, some of them not as smooth
as they should be?
- How is that possible that the nylon rod broke right at mid length, which is
not
where the maximum stress is located? Note that the first leg broke at the upper
end which seems logical to me.
- What is the experience on other monowheels regarding the life of those nylon
rods?
- has anyone designed and tested a variation of the original outriggers, with
rods
made of other materials such as glass fiber, steel...?
Regards
Remi Guerner
F-PGKL, grounded
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