Aileron link

[Planegary]

Doing my annual my mechanic told me that it looks like next year I will need a aileron link on the left side due to the heim joint starting to show a little slack. In looking at them I see that they are not replaceable on the tube and that you have to replace the entire tube. Is there any repair to put a new joint into the tube? Is there any type of long term repair other than install a used unit?  It seems that a nut could be welded onto the tube to provide threads for the female heim joint to screw into to be a more permanent fix. I’m sure I’m not thinking this out well enough but it seems there must be a long term repair

[47U]

42 minutes ago, Planegary said:

Is there any type of long term repair other than install a used unit?

Modifying your link by welding a nut on the end could be a solution, as long as your IA is good with it.  Future IAs you encounter… maybe not so much.  

Since you have a year until your next annual to source a new link, why not call your favorite MSC and I’ll bet the factory would be happy to make you a new one.  Your IA (and future ones) would certainly be happy with that option.  And it helps keep Mooney viable as a business making parts.

[Planegary]

I was thinking about how to repair something rather than throw something away since it looks like the part should have been an easy to replace component and not discard and replace the entire component much like the tie rods on a car. Just kinda thinking on print here

 

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, Planegary said:

I was thinking about how to repair something rather than throw something away since it looks like the part should have been an easy to replace component and not discard and replace the entire component much like the tie rods on a car. Just kinda thinking on print here

 

I replaced one recently, and was fortunate to get a replacement from a junkyard that was threaded on both ends.   I think the factory changed to threading it on both ends at some point, so finding a later one will give you that feature.   Iirc the part number didn't even change.   This was for a J model airplane.

The fixed ones are repairable by removing the roll pins and replacing the rod end.   Another issue is that the blank (unthreaded) rod ends are difficult to find.   I've been meaning to remove the old one from the rod I took out and see how difficult it is to replace, but haven't gotten to that yet.

[Planegary]

To think further along in this vein whatever happened to the lazar improved steering knuckle setups. I don’t see them for sale on the website anymore. Do you send in your old one to have it rebuilt or is it just a pause in manufacturing for the improved one or does anybody know anything for sure?  I’m sure in another couple of years I will need one of them and I am just trying to think ahead

[Fritz1]

think LASAR still has rebuilt OEM steering horns, the machinist that made the upgrade kit retired to my best knowledge and they have not resurrected production

[PT20J]

37 minutes ago, Planegary said:

To think further along in this vein whatever happened to the lazar improved steering knuckle setups. I don’t see them for sale on the website anymore. Do you send in your old one to have it rebuilt or is it just a pause in manufacturing for the improved one or does anybody know anything for sure?  I’m sure in another couple of years I will need one of them and I am just trying to think ahead

Not sure which part you mean. But some time ago LASAR quit making many of the PMA parts. Corrine Boatright told me that they had been made by a machinist in Lakeport that had retired and they hadn't been selling enough to warrant enlisting a new machine shop. I exchanged emails with the new owner and he claimed that they were able to rebuild landing gear actuators and nose gear legs in Prineville, but when I later inquired with Dan Riesland about having a gear leg repaired he told me that they could not do it because they needed to get new FAA approval since they had moved to a new FSDO jurisdiction. Corrine and Dan are gone. It's probably best to call LASAR directly for current status.

[Planegary]

I was talking about the steering horn assembly. Sorry for not identifying it properly. I guess my best bet is to start looking at salvage yards and hope I come across one of the lazar improved assemblies before I have to have one

[Fritz1]

the LASAR steering horn assy kit fixes a problem that nothing else can fix: a worn vertical nose gear pivot bolt that is welded to the roll cage, if you can find one of the LASAR kits used you are lucky!

[47U]

I’m going through my nose gear now.  I called LASAR and Heather gave me an email contact to coordinate sending in my steering horn for rebuild.  There’s two versions and I have the older style.  I sent it up to them and when it came back it’s like new.  I don’t have the welded pivot bolt, I have the AN3 bolt through the fuselage tube.  Not sure what other differences there are and if the newer style has procurement issues.

I called LASAR a couple weeks ago for something and was surprised when Dan answered the phone.  Apparently he’s not completely retired.  

Since Top Gun is more local to me than Prineville, recently I’ve been in contact with Rachel there… you can email her at parts1@topgunaviation.net or (209) 983-8082.  She is a great resource into parts availability,  what Kerrville has in stock, parts manufacturing, and the corresponding amu commitment.  

[Planegary]

Thanks. I was just assuming absolute worst case scenario to mentally prepare myself for whenever this does happen. Did they tell you the turn around time for overhaul of the steering horn?

[redbaron1982]

Unrelated, but not so much, I know there is a process for owners to fabricate parts (as long as they are for their airplane and as long as the shop is not selling the part but instead following owners directions).

Is all the required information publically available to fabricate, let's say, the steering horn? I mean drawing with dimensions and tolerances as well as the type of materials to use?

[Fly Boomer]

16 minutes ago, redbaron1982 said:

Is all the required information publically available

Nope.  If it was just welding, that might work, but some or all of the components of that assembly are heat treated.  As far as I know, the specific heat treating process is not in the public domain.

[47U]

1 hour ago, Planegary said:

Did they tell you the turn around time for overhaul of the steering horn?

My email exchange indicates they received my steering horn on Monday, 11 March and they shipped the rebuilt horn back to me on Friday, 15 March.  This was for the early version steering horn, o/h cost was 1.15 amu.

I sourced replacement hardware separately, mostly from Spruce.

[redbaron1982]

2 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

Nope.  If it was just welding, that might work, but some or all of the components of that assembly are heat treated.  As far as I know, the specific heat treating process is not in the public domain.

Yeah, that was my concern, if the steel grade is known for each part.

[Planegary]

I wish that central shaft was repairable with a bushing replacement rather than send the unit in for overhaul. It would make the component much more field serviceable

[Planegary]

I know that this is a rather open ended question but what kind of time between overhauls do you get out of the nose wheel steering linkage last?  1000 hrs? 1500 hrs? 2000 hrs? 2500 hrs?  I woas looking at how small the structure and began thinking about the loads on the steering and began wondering

[N201MKTurbo]

While the landing gear parts are heat treated, I don’t think the control links require it. Just carefully cut the old weld off. Pull out the rod end, find the new one that fits and cut and grind, or machine to fit and find a good TIG welder to run the bead for you.

You can find paragraphs in 43.13-1B to cover most of that.

After all, the ailerons are not slammed into the ground with a ton and a half sitting on them.

[PT20J]

1 hour ago, Planegary said:

I wish that central shaft was repairable with a bushing replacement rather than send the unit in for overhaul. It would make the component much more field serviceable

I'll bet any good machine shop could rebuild one of these. It's not complicated. 

[Planegary]

That central shaft that I was talking about is on the steering linkage not the aileron shaft. I wish that the steering linkage was field repairable with a bushing rather than have to send it in to be rebuilt

[Missile 300]

12 hours ago, Planegary said:

I know that this is a rather open ended question but what kind of time between overhauls do you get out of the nose wheel steering linkage last?  1000 hrs? 1500 hrs? 2000 hrs? 2500 hrs?  I woas looking at how small the structure and began thinking about the loads on the steering and began wondering

That is an open ended question.  It is a function of the condition of all the components in the nose gear and truss including bearings and landing gear pucks, the weight of your plane, nose gear rigging, regular and complete lubrication, the type and condition of the runway and taxiways you frequent and how you land.

My experience has been, if the entire nose gear and truss has been set up right - with proper bearing tolerances and properly lubricated regularly, that it will last a long long time.  I have a J that was converted to a Missile 300 long ago and have hundreds of pounds more weight on the nose than you.  The last time any work was done on the nose gear components, other than lubrication and new landing gear pucks, was done in 2009.  I only land on paved runways generally in good condition and I avoid taxiing off of paved taxiways although sometimes on hard dry ground.

If you have looseness in nose gear truss bearings, improper rigging, insufficient lubrication, land on rough surfaces, and/or bounce the nose then you are going to put a lot of excessive forces on these small components and bearings more frequently and cause them to wear more quickly.  If you have looseness and excessive tolerances to start with then bearings get slapped around (high shock loads) as you bounce or hit rough surfaces and load and unload the landing gear and bearings.

[Planegary]

That is kind of what I figured I just didn’t know if a normal life span of the steering truss was short due to the design or not since it looks like a concentration of weight and loading on a small component

[PT20J]

The truss and spindle should last darn near forever if properly lubricated at regular intervals. The leg wears on the bottom plate where the weight of the airplane rests on it. The later horns are hollow and should be filled with grease. I suspect that a lot are under lubricated. I don't see why a steering horn can not be rebuilt in the field.

[47U]

22 minutes ago, PT20J said:

The later horns are hollow and should be filled with grease. I suspect that a lot are under lubricated. I don't see why a steering horn can not be rebuilt in the field.

The LASAR-overhauled early style steering horn adds the zerk to fill the cavity with grease.  My C lived on a grass strip for 35 years so the nose experienced some pretty hard use.  

I thought there was a thread recently where someone’s A&P was rebushing the steering horn?  All that’s needed is the wear dimensions and bushings pn’s, which are not in the IPC.  We need the blue-line drawings.  There’s no reason the steering horn cannot be refurbished in the field if the internals were known and available.