I have just finished the annual on my Super ES.

I discovered a cracked engine mount within ten minutes of starting the inspection.

I have experienced the "ES Shake" since the plane was new.  It now has about 860 hours on it.  I have done various things to the plane to address the problem through the years I have been flying it.  Some things seem to improve it, some don't make a difference.  The plane has never been without the shake completely.  The shake occurs at the same speed (30-32 knots) on rollout after landing and while on the brakes.  Releasing brake pressure makes the shake go away.

The following is a list of what I did the the plane during this annual, and had done previously, to help or eliminate the shake:

-Strut rebuild and update by Lancair (second time)

-Engine mount repair, update, reinforcement, inspection by Lancair

-New Cleveland brake discs

-Balance all tires and wheels

-Balance nose wheel pant

-Precisely align main gear both in toe and camber.

-Shim main gear legs to reduce "play" between leg and mount.

-Shim spindles to fit tightly to the gear legs

Test flight showed no noticeable improvement in the shake. 

My next step is to mount a camcorder on the plane so that I can see the landing gear and attempt to determine if the origin of the problem is the nose wheel or the main gear.  I am inclined to believe it is the main gear.

I don’t remember hearing anyone describe how the shake affects the controls.  The shake in my plane causes the stick to move front to rear in rapid cycles.  The plane feels like the tail is jumping up and down.  It would seem that a nose wheel shimmy would cause the plane to move side to side.  I don’t think that is happening with mine.

I will post whatever I learn from the camcorder exercise.

In a related area, I don’t recall hearing of or reading about what Lancair has done to help with this situation.  It is certainly possible that I just missed that part.

It seems that, with a large percentage of the ES fleet exhibiting the same issues under the same conditions, whatever they may be recommending is not working.  Perhaps they should do some more detective work (possibly check out some of the planes that show the problems), and help with a fix.  As I said, maybe I missed the part where this had been done, but I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning to me that Lancair had discovered the source of the problem and determined the things that need to be done to eliminate it.  It would be impossible for me to believe the Columbia has this same problem.  Wonder what is different.

I know that I have put in a great amount of time and no small amount of expense to correct it and it ain't happened.  I gather from my conversations with other builders that I am not alone in those categories.

Just thought I would share.............

Jim Scales

Angel's Playmate