- Joined
- Mar 2, 2015
- Messages
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Halfway through the annual we found that the gear leg pivot bushings had again deformed and bent the pin that goes through the gear leg - same on both sides. It is not a new problem for the Charger design and not a new problem on this particular aircraft. We went through the repair five or six years ago (I haven't bothered to look it up) which was probably less than 100 flight hours. We assumed that first repair was due to faulty original work or "some other guy's" bad landing. We went in (original builder and me, current owner) and beefed it up and increased pin size by a couple of steps of wall thickness. So seeing the damage again after a short time was disheartening.
I have a new team to fix it this time as original builder is no longer around and since I am a fine owner but I am not a builder. I had the team study Glenn's wonderfully detailed thread on his repair of the exact same problem. When we got the legs off today it became clear that the gear legs will have to be rebuilt. I had hoped we could 'fix' them and add Glenn's third gusset.
Since this is the second time around with same fix on this plane we are thinking hard about design change. It is not my first choice as I would prefer to stay with the original configuration. But as it has become clear that this is a weak point of the design and in an effort to manage the cost of the repair, we want to consider the options.
Jake, my A&P/IA on the project has seen good work done with Grove Landing Gear (http://www.groveaircraft.com/landing_gear.html ) they make custom or ready-made spring aluminum gear in one or two pieces. We are exploring what it would take to mount a one-piece spring gear on the charger. It would also give us a chance to update wheels and brakes. We'd like to refit the wheelpants and make some new fairings to complete the job.
I know there has been a lot of discussion of Charger landing gear. Anybody have knowledge of a switch to spring gear? Or worked with Grove? What do we need to consider? What have we forgotten about? What can of worms will this plan open? Help us make an informed decision. Fill us in.
I have a new team to fix it this time as original builder is no longer around and since I am a fine owner but I am not a builder. I had the team study Glenn's wonderfully detailed thread on his repair of the exact same problem. When we got the legs off today it became clear that the gear legs will have to be rebuilt. I had hoped we could 'fix' them and add Glenn's third gusset.
Since this is the second time around with same fix on this plane we are thinking hard about design change. It is not my first choice as I would prefer to stay with the original configuration. But as it has become clear that this is a weak point of the design and in an effort to manage the cost of the repair, we want to consider the options.
Jake, my A&P/IA on the project has seen good work done with Grove Landing Gear (http://www.groveaircraft.com/landing_gear.html ) they make custom or ready-made spring aluminum gear in one or two pieces. We are exploring what it would take to mount a one-piece spring gear on the charger. It would also give us a chance to update wheels and brakes. We'd like to refit the wheelpants and make some new fairings to complete the job.
I know there has been a lot of discussion of Charger landing gear. Anybody have knowledge of a switch to spring gear? Or worked with Grove? What do we need to consider? What have we forgotten about? What can of worms will this plan open? Help us make an informed decision. Fill us in.
