Today's Message Index:
----------------------
1. 04:44 PM - Re: Bent Nose Wheel Axle (raymond miller)
2. 10:49 PM - Re: Bent Nose Wheel Axle (dons701)
Message 1
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
| Subject: | Re: Bent Nose Wheel Axle |
Sorry to hear of your bent axle experience but I had the same misfortune
about a year ago which resulted in several thousand dollars damage. I had
obviously bent the nose wheel axle while doing touch and goes at a rough
grass strip and when I landed on a paved runway the wheel bent further and
locked into the fork. This resulted in the nose gear collapsing, lower
firewall damage, and prop strike. Fortunately my wife had insisted that I
insure the plane so most of the damage was covered. I sent email to Chris
Heinz with pictures of the bent axle complaining of this obvious weak link
in an otherwise fine piece of engineering. He responded expressing regret
at my misfortune but stating hundreds of successful landings had been made
on rough terrain without incident. Well you, I, and many others disagree.
That piece of hollow pipe with two nuts welded on the end is a sad joke
designed for for the sake of 1lb at the most. I took my bent piece of
tubing to a machine shop and had them manufacture a solid steel axle with
threads on each end. So much for feedback from Zenith. Cheers
On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 12:13 AM, dons701 <burdon1@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Recently, a hard landing resulted in a bent nose wheel axle. I was
> extremely
> lucky as there was evidence that the tire made very light contact with the
> bolts
> on the underside of the fork doubler / strut tube assembly. The tire
> basically
> sprung back down away from making permanent contact and locking up which
> would
> have been disastrous. There are plenty of pictures out there to see what
> typically happens.... :0
> After talking to ZAC about upgrading this axle tubing to something like
> solid
> bar stock, I was told that the axle from the CH750 is the same size and is
> a solid
> update to what I had for my 701. I ordered CH750 part number 75L1-5 and new
> bolts and washers.
> The date on my plans is June 30 2005 with the axle tube dimension .625" x
> .058" wall tubing. I checked the 701 update list and found nothing to
> indicate
> a change was made in this axle since my drawing date.
>
> In the end, ZAC is kindly sending me a free axle.
>
> Does anyone know or, has anyone used this "new" axle and can tell me if it
> is a
> solid piece of bar stock as claimed or has at least a thicker tube wall
> than .058
> thousandths??
> PS: For safety's sake, inspect your nose wheel axles. To me the width
> between the wheel bearings seems narrow relative to the span of the axle
> required for tire width. The bearing hub of the wheel should be wider. Or
> was it
> designed this way to absorb impact?
> Thanks for you time, Don
>
> --------
> Zenith 701 #76120
> Jabiru 2200A #2456 67 hours
> Sensenich Wood 64-PJ-36 Prop
>
>
> Read this topic online here:
>
> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=305898#305898
>
>
Message 2
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
| Subject: | Re: Bent Nose Wheel Axle |
I have also posted this message at the Yahoo Groups to find out if anyone with
a CH701 is using the "new" solid axle that was designed and is used on the heavier
CH750. So far, no responses. Hopefully the UPS truck will land in my driveway
Friday and I will see for myself how sturdy this new shaft is.
Another area of concern is the side flexing of the lower nose wheel fork where
the axle is attached. This flexing has allowed the side wall of my tire to
rub the inside of the fork if the nose wheel is not aligned with the runway, such
as when needing to use the rudder till the nose sets down in a sudden crosswind.
Admittedly, one should always maintain alignment but everyone knows this
does not always happen. My possible solution would be to add triangular gussets
to the wheel spacers that would extend upward from the spacer tubes and could
attach to the two bolts currently used to join the aluminum forks as one.
An additional bolt could be used midway, above the axle bolt. This would, I believe,
greatly stiffen the lower fork where axial side loads are delivered.
Has anyone else experienced this ? Or has any comment on this ?
All thoughts welcome... Don
--------
Zenith 701 #76120
Jabiru 2200A #2456 67 hours
Sensenich Wood 64-PJ-36 Prop
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=306055#306055
Other Matronics Email List Services
These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.
-- Please support this service by making your Contribution today! --
|