Nose Gear Woes!

[CharlesHuddleston]

12 hours ago, carusoam said:

Charles,

Give an extra look at the tubes supporting the nose gear when you get a chance...

The usual towing incidents include the tubes as they clash into each other during an over stead situation...

Best regards,

-a-

That was the first place I looked after noticing the damage. Fortunately, just a little paint rub, but no indentation. 

[CharlesHuddleston]

15 minutes ago, mike_elliott said:

THis also happened in Miami (KTMB I believe) to a 35 hr old Ultra, and was the catalyst for sim 20-137 being issued last May.

Ouch!!! I hope that the gear was the only thing damaged. Was this a towing mistake as well??? I can image lots of other important moving parts that could have hit the ground as well... I’m certain that was a BAD day for everyone involved. 

[mike_elliott]

4 minutes ago, CharlesHuddleston said:

Ouch!!! I hope that the gear was the only thing damaged. Was this a towing mistake as well??? I can image lots of other important moving parts that could have hit the ground as well... I’m certain that was a BAD day for everyone involved. 

Yes, the towing error was captured by the security footage also. Other moving parts hit when taxiing began and the nose gear completed the failure. New Engine, new prop, new nose parts = no damage.

[bradp]

I encountered an almost new Ovation in Provincetown one summer that had the same thing happen.  I ended up giving the owner and his daughter a ride to NH later that day in a rented 182. 

[CharlesHuddleston]

Work is getting started. Actually had to get a new nose truss as the back attachment bracket of the ‘doghouse’ was broken as well. We removed the front nose well panel to expose the cross member. Next up, going to support nose with an engine hoist, remove the nose gear, and grind the old welded pin off. Only upside is that I can do a good thorough cleaning of the nose well! That, and I’m replacing the pucks all around. In the pic, the red circle is the broken pivot point and the blue represents where the steering arm would live. You can also see (or not) the absent pilot’s side turn limiting tab. Love to do and learn, hate to do it at the expense of flight time. 

[cliffy]

While you are in that area check the 4 bolts that hold the rudder pedal cross shaft in place. 2 can be easily gotten to and the other 2 (the ones of course that get loose) are much harder to tighten.  Lots of rudder control slop in the pedals can be attributed to these 4 bolts working loose. 

[cliffy]

Just to add-   I found I had to drill a hole in the floor above the hard to get bolts (the floor is NOT structural here) and make a thin ground down box wrench on a long handle and wiggle it in to get on the back side of the bolt for tightening. 2 man job to tighten for me. Maybe someone else can figure another way to get at it. 

[larrynimmo]

1 hour ago, cliffy said:

Just to add-   I found I had to drill a hole in the floor above the hard to get bolts (the floor is NOT structural here) and make a thin ground down box wrench on a long handle and wiggle it in to get on the back side of the bolt for tightening. 2 man job to tighten for me. Maybe someone else can figure another way to get at it. 

very simple...you do what you got to do to make it work!  Great job thinking "out of the box"

[PT20J]

On 1/30/2020 at 5:09 AM, cliffy said:

While you are in that area check the 4 bolts that hold the rudder pedal cross shaft in place. 2 can be easily gotten to and the other 2 (the ones of course that get loose) are much harder to tighten.  Lots of rudder control slop in the pedals can be attributed to these 4 bolts working loose. 

Hmmmm. In the M20J IPC, I see that the rudder control torque tube is installed on four bushings with bolts that have castle nuts and cotter pins. Is this what you are talking about? Maybe your installation is different, but I don’t see how these bolts could loosen.

Skip

[cliffy]

Mine were self locking nuts  (64D)  and the ears tighten onto the bushing shoulders. When loose they wear the bolt holes, 

You're never going to fix the ears if they wear too far, without removing the firewall. A little wear causes a lot of slop.

Tighten the bolts and secure the bushings in the ears - stops the slop before the wear goes too far. 

Its a judgement call How much slop is too much - only your mechanic knows, the design is to capture the bushing between the ears clamping with the bolt. Just make sure the bolt is secure. 

[PT20J]

4 minutes ago, cliffy said:

Mine were self locking nuts  (64D)  and the ears tighten onto the bushing shoulders. When loose they wear the bolt holes, 

You're never going to fix the ears if they wear too far, without removing the firewall. A little wear causes a lot of slop.

Tighten the bolts and secure the bushings in the ears - stops the slop before the wear goes too far. 

Its a judgement call How much slop is too much - only your mechanic knows, the design is to capture the bushing between the ears clamping with the bolt. Just make sure the bolt is secure. 

Interesting. Mooney must have changed the design by the J. Perhaps @M20Doc knows. 

[CharlesHuddleston]

Progress! Re-Assembly complete. New nose truss, clamp-on pin, and new nose pucks. (They were over-due!) 
Now waiting for all the TN rains to pass to try some taxi runs and then take to the skies. I huge thank you to my new local A&P, Ted Tippon (son of the country music star).  They are Mooney owners as well!

 

[RLCarter]

4 hours ago, CharlesHuddleston said:

 huge thank you to my new local A&P, Ted Tippon (son of the country music star).  They are Mooney owners as well!

The Tippins are big into aviation

[carusoam]

Charles, great pics showing what the old v. New looks like!

Good luck with the taxi tests...
 

Things are going to go smooooth.... 

Tom made the news a few years ago...

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/december/02/aaron-tippins-son-solos-three-1940s-classics-on-16th-birthday

Ted showed up here...

https://classiccountrymusic.com/country-singer-aaron-tippins-son-delivers-cover-of-the-eagles-hotel-california/

 

Lots of aviation in that family!

Best regards,

-a-