back in 2004 you made a posting about your nose wheel striking the door on opening. Did you ever find a solution for this one apart from painting over the tyre mark?

Gerard,

 

Hmmmm..... Maybe by using a weak gas spring, encouraging a binding nose gear, dropping the gear at excessive speeds (GT 120 KIAS) or perhaps, not connecting the "down" side of the nose gear door actuator to the hydraulic system at all (an alternative construction method suggested in the early build manual).

 

The fact is that the high powered drop down of the nose gear may demand hydraulic fluid at a rate so great that the system cannot supply enough, even with the pump running - thus the down side of the door actuator is deprived of fluid which may cause incomplete opening of the door.  Or, the fluid leaving the nose gear actuator causes a back pressure sufficient to momentarily overcome or slow the door actuator spring.  Or, both.  Ergo, the gear itself bangs the door out of the way....

 

Maybe I should just put a roller bearing on the gear fork and beef up the door where it is scratched - I have painted the inside of the door black and currently use a permanent black marking pen to cover the scratch from time to time.  The problem is not so serious as to give me heart burn.

 

Maybe I'll just live with it.  After all, the gear has always come down (if the down switch is actually selected by the aircraft operator).  Once, during emergency drop testing, a main didn't come down because of bent main actuator push rods, but that's another story.