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"Scott Dahlgren" <scdahlgren@home.com>

Scott,

I had a major incident on take-off on the first flight of my 320 after
seven years of building.  The nose leg was defective (a unit which had been
discontinued by Lancair) and shimmied so violently that it broke the drag
link.  I wrote it all up at the time and the report should be available on
Marv's Web Site.  It certainly got in to Lancair Network News.  I think my
primary piece of advice is that, if you have had the kit for some years
(more than 3), send the nose leg strut back to Vern for his expert
overhaul.  Then you can be sure it is modified to the latest specification
and properly sealed/pumped up.  The Lancair service bulletin process is not
robust enough to ensure that builders are aware of ALL the modifications to
some parts.  The nose leg has been the subject of a number of changes and
all these would be incorporated in any overhaul carried out by Lancair.
Regretably, the nose leg part number has remained unchanged in spite of the
many differences in parts.  So it is very difficult for the builder to know
if he has a defective or early, unmodified, leg.

My aircraft is flying again now but it took me a year (and my insurers
$20,000) to get it there - the price of a nose leg overhaul is not
expensive compared to the outcome I suffered.

All the best,

michael

 Dr Michael A Fopp
 Home Office at 12:10 on 13-Mar-01
 Private email add:- michael_fopp@compuserve.com
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