Thread: More Follow up on w7uy mishap

Glad to hear you guys are alright.

FYI...the tubing I beleive is a mild steel that takes welding well - not aluminium.

Please keep us posted on repair work progess, results, etc.

Roger H

we were looking at the gear strut in my ct recently. i was sure it was aluminum and my friend was sure it was steel.

the magnet agreed with me.

my tundra gear set up seems plenty strong as long as the pilot is adequately skilled. if i used it for a trainer, in these local conditions the gear would likely be a weak link.

I will go to the hanger this weekend and take a magnet and a camera. The tubing looks no larger than one inch thin wall electrical conduit. Breaking so close to the weld with steel still could be caused by overheating and removing the temper. The insurance adjuster looked things over and showed me the break next to the weld, but I don't know if they will follow up on checking the weld. The front gear held up well until the broken right main hit the dirt.

Is it possible that someone put the tundra tires on this aircraft without stronger gear tubing?

My thoughts now are to get an old Luscombe or Taylorcraft that is light sport rated.

Do any of you know if a light sport aircraft with a stronger landing gear but similar performance to the CTSW?

W7uy wrote: Has anyone else had this type of gear failure on a CTSW?

May 30th. Mild landing.... Right landing gear broke. In attempt to hold heading straight down runway while stub (wheel and axel gone) is digging into the ground, lots of opposite rudder required, nose gear then collapsed, I believe from tire being pointed one direction while body is being twisted elsewhere. Prop into the ground, right wing now sliding on the surface, etc. Not enough hands and feet to work stick, rudder/steering, the brake lever and attempt emergency shutdown of engine (key), fuel (lever) and electrical, master breaker. The CT also developed a crack in the body on the underside from near the firewall to aft of the luggage area.

Four months and still waiting for repairs to be completed....

Complete pictures of CTsw and detailed gear items....

We're not the onlyh ones to have this happen.

Tony & Lerose

Tony....was your landing gear the heavy duty option with Tundra wheels?

Dave

Dave -- Tundra tires, yes!! I believe the actual landing gear configuration is the same for both type tires....

Note the 'marks on the ground'. Fuel on the ground and wing skid marks behind. Look close, and see the white marks behind the gear, caused by the nose tire cover...

I will say, the CT performed as advertised. Solid!!! Opened the doors and stepped out.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller & Lerose

-- Tundra tires, yes!! I believe the actual landing gear configuration is the same for both type tires....

Hi Tony,
That is interesting as I paid as an optional extra, 845 Euro for the "Heavy Duty Landing Gear" (Z-10200) plus another 1180 Euro for the "Tundra Wheels & Wheel Fairings" (Z-10201) so one has to wonder what we are paying for if there is no difference?? It would be nice if we could get some clarification from FD on this.

Dave

Unfortunately I have had a similar experience but thankfully during slow taxi across grass. My difference being that the leg snapped clean through at the main mounting point behind the pax seat. I can assure you that (at least on my CT) the main gear legs are solid alloy tapering from 32mm at top and bottom to max thickness of 41mm at the point where it is drilled through for the 8mm main mounting bolt. This is its weakest point. Also, the top and bottom ends are tubular for about 50mm with 5mm thick walls. The wheel attachment that sleeves over the leg and bolted on is mild steel.

Stresses applied to the alloy legs (heavy landings, rough ground, grass tussocks) will cause repeated bending forces at the main mounting point where the hole penetrates the leg. Enough of this will produce a hair line crack only discernable by dye testing the removed leg. Ignore this long enough and the crack will work its way through until about one third through then BANG. Also, I have found that the alloy bush through which the bolt is attached to the bulkhead is prone to wear. That is, with the forces applied to that bolt the hole through the bush becomes elongated. This in turn allows more movement and more stress to the leg, bolt and surrounding composite of the bulkhead.

And yes, if the tundra option is requested at ordering it will be fitted to std legs. However, HD legs can also be optioned in which I would suggest as the only sensible way to go. However I can offer no knowledge as to whether the wheel attachments on tundra wheels or HD legs is any different to the std option, but I doubt it is.

Paul

PS Why is this discussion still in the For Sale section?

w7uy,

A couple of thoughts, directives and questions...

First - we should move this thread out of the For Sale area. I'll see about doing this.

But I am curious w7uy - is it possible if you could let us know how many hours your CT had on it. How many hours you had in it, how many landings it had, what you flew before. Also, was the instructor with you proficient in a CT. Are you a sport pilot or....

Just curious and this information may help the training scenario for future CT pilots.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Roger H

Thanks to everyone for their remarks.

One email gave the NTIS report DEN07FA068 which is nearly identical to my incident.

Please move this out of the "For Sale" category.

To answer some questions, there was about 19 hours on the aircraft. I have 257 hours logged, 7 in a CT within a month of the incident and 6 within a week. I made 8 previous landings myself, plus a similar amount by two different instructors.

From the comments received and the DEN07FA068 report, I believe that the CT does have a weak main gear, if not a design flaw in the gear. As nice as the CT flies, I have serious doubts if I will ever fly one again. Not every landing is perfect, and testing the main gear with a drop of only 21 inches is not enough by my standards. I would love to find another aircraft with the performance of the CT but with stronger main gears. Any hints on the existence of such an aircraft would be highly appreciated. I don't know if my insurance carrier will drop me or not, but a 60 year old Luscombe or Taylorcraft could be self insured for the hull and would most likely hold up to a less than perfect landing.

Thank you all again.

Robert