? Possible to get nose gear doors too tight?

[willerjim273]

I noticed the port (pilot) gear door closes and leaves about a thumb of gap. All is well on jacks. Work great. Anyone have any ideas on why the might have been rigged with that gap? Do conditions change under actual flight conditions? It has always worked just peachy. Do not want to tighten them up and learn something you all may know. Valid assumptions to say that if anything, the low pressure should pull them apart?

 

Muchas

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, willerjim273 said:

I noticed the port (pilot) gear door closes and leaves about a thumb of gap. All is well on jacks. Work great. Anyone have any ideas on why the might have been rigged with that gap? Do conditions change under actual flight conditions? It has always worked just peachy. Do not want to tighten them up and learn something you all may know. Valid assumptions to say that if anything, the low pressure should pull them apart?

 

Muchas

Mine has a gap as well. We closed it by adjusting the rod ends but the edge of the door then snagged on one of the tire groves and prevented the gear from dropping. We put the door back where it was.  Remedying the tire/door issue would require several adjustments to the nose gear that I decided to defer. This may in part be due to the Wilkerson retreads that I run. 

[A64Pilot]

Mine are tight, tight enough that they chafe the fuselage with the aft part of the door so I put anti chafe tape to prevent that.

I would suppose that in flight air pressure would push them shut, not suck them open, a GoPro would tell the tale if you really wanted to know.

[PeteMc]

Mine are tight.

I also happened to be at the mechanics the other day when one of the guys was working on the nose wheel door.  He looked and called the owner over to look and the guy said "a little tighter, right?" and the owner agreed.  Loose gear doors equal a loss in speed.

 

[Vance Harral]

In my experience, you have to decide on the sweet spot for your particular preference.  Basically, loose = extra drag, but tight = extra chafing.

Our were slightly loose when we bought the airplane.  We adjusted them to be tighter, then over the course of about 30 hours discovered that the forward "lip" of the port side door was being pretty badly chafed by the overlapping "lip" of the starboard side door.  The radius of those door "lips" aren't really conducive to receiving anti-chafe tape, so we just adjusted the rod ends back to where they were originally, and called it a lesson learned.  It left an ugly scar, but our airplane isn't a beauty queen anyway.  If you do have a beauty queen, I'd be careful about adjusting them particularly tight.  The drag reduction isn't worth the potential cosmetic scars on a nice paint job.

 

[willerjim273]

OK,

 

Thanks. I suppose I will drop her down and hook up the tow. Not sure I can picture the chaffing. Works fine on the jacks. Will find out. Thanks again. I'll have to look up what you guys are using on Go Pro. Never had one.

[willerjim273]

3 minutes ago, Vance Harral said:

In my experience, you have to decide on the sweet spot for your particular preference.  Basically, loose = extra drag, but tight = extra chafing.

Our were slightly loose when we bought the airplane.  We adjusted them to be tighter, then over the course of about 30 hours discovered that the forward "lip" of the port side door was being pretty badly chafed by the overlapping "lip" of the starboard side door.  The radius of those door "lips" aren't really conducive to receiving anti-chafe tape, so we just adjusted the rod ends back to where they were originally, and called it a lesson learned.  It left an ugly scar, but our airplane isn't a beauty queen anyway.  If you do have a beauty queen, I'd be careful about adjusting them particularly tight.  The drag reduction isn't worth the potential cosmetic scars on a nice paint job.

 

OK,

So the chaffing is from overlap, not really interference. Thanks. Exactly what I was looking for. 

[A64Pilot]

My main doors chafe too, I use the ultra thin brown teflon anti - chafe tape for everything, being thin if fits on both sides of the cowling and doesn’t require longer fasteners. I put it on both sides so the tape rubs against itself.

To get the tape to stick well, it takes a very through cleaning with acetone, just clean the are that the tape will adhere to as I believe acetone isn’t really good on paint finish

This tape, trims easily with a razor knife too.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pnpages/05-01024.php

[Guest]

Use caution when adjusting nose gear doors, as pointed out above it’s possible to adjust them to the point that the door can catch in the tire grooves.

Door retraction height and door clocking have to be tinkered with to get it all correct.  And if the door hinges have been replaced in the past this can effect how well the doors match with each other.

Clarence

[Fly Boomer]

7 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

I use the ultra thin brown teflon anti - chafe tape for everythin

Brilliant.  Had never seen this stuff before.  Thank you!

[PT20J]

Mooney specifies 3M foam tape in the M20J IPC. I put foam tape on all the main and nose gear door edges and it has held up really well. I also put UHMW clear tape on the wings and belly where the doors rub as extra protection. 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00823H1BS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00823JBVG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Skip

[Shadrach]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

Mooney specifies 3M foam tape in the M20J IPC. I put foam tape on all the main and nose gear door edges and it has held up really well. I also put UHMW clear tape on the wings and belly where the doors rub as extra protection. 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00823H1BS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00823JBVG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Skip

I’ve had good success with 3M 8672 Clear Polyurethane Tape. It’s expensive but it bonds well to paint, is low profile and very durable. Mine has been in place for nearly a decade.

 

[glenn reynolds]

One comment not mentioned is that of too tight. I broke two gear door hinges before I figured out that someone had adjusted the door too tight.