Hi Dominic,

I put a new gas strut on my nose gear this January.

But before I installed it, I tested its load capacity and recorded that.  A wee bit over spec.

The old one – I tested that. I found its load capacity to be just over 90% of its design spec. Supplied with the kit in May 2008; first used for flight operations in Dec 2010 and removed just over 3 yrs later after somewhere around 200 retract / extend cycles.

For $20 or so, its prob a no brainer……..but prob not necessary to do every annual based on my observations so far. Having said that, that was just one strut history. So I'll remove the one I just put in, next January, and I'll test again to see how its load capacity compares to how it was when I installed it.  But my system of maintenance now states - "test gas struts each 2 years; replace gas struts if capacity less than 90% of specification".

Testing is simple – 1/2 hour or so to make up a test beam with a 2:1 leverage; and test load with electronic fish scales anchored with a clamp so no wobbling!  I'm sure there are more sophisticated ways to do this…but this seemed to work fine for me. See attached pic.