Good for you.
The Cozys I have seen that damage on usually had heavy noses. I
don't know what your loading was like. The Cozy uses Rutan's
original Long-EZ lay up schedule but carries FAR more
weight. When the nose comes down it can delaminate that side skin.
On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 17:47:28 -0400 "Steve Brooks" <
steve@tsisp.com> writes:
>
Terry,
> Thanks for the advice. I will definitely do the coin test
to see if
> there
> is any damage. The nose didn't hit very
hard, so I hope that there
> isn't
> any. I think that gear
was in the process of extending when it hit,
> which
> mitigated
the damage.
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original
Message-----
> From:
Rotary motors in aircraft
> [
mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net]
On
> Behalf Of Terry L Schubert
>
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 5:22
PM
> To: Rotary motors in
aircraft
>
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Not my
best landing
>
> Dear Steve,
>
> I guess you are
feeling badly enough about your landing. I did mine
> on
>
the 3rd flight. PLEASE do not believe you "have it out of your
>
system"!
>
> My next gear up landing was at OSH with 15,000
witnesses and a 20kt
> cross
> wind. "There are those who
have and those that will and those that
> will
> land gear up
AGAIN!"
>
> When a Cozy lands gear up it puts considerable pressure
on the side
> skin
> under the canard. I suggest you do a
coin tap test for
> delaminations in
> the area directly under the
canard to about a foot below the
> canard.
> That is the usual
damage area. Damage is not noticeable until you
> do
>
that.
>
> Landing distractions will continue to occur. I
recommend you get
> that
> warning system & AEX made fool
proof.
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
> Terry
Schubert
> Central States Association
> Newsletter Editor
>
>
>
> On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 12:19:14 -0400 "Steve Brooks"
<
steve@tsisp.com>
>
writes:
> > I made my 6th flight today, and after flying for .8 hours,
came in
> to
> > land
> > after I noticed that I had a
vacuum failure, and did not put the
> > nose gear
> >
down. Talk about running my day, it definitely was not good, but
>
> could have
> > been much worse.
> >
> > I was
evidently distracted by wondering about what happened to
> the
>
> vacuum,
> > instead of doing my landing checklist. I was
worried that I could
> > have lost
> > a belt, so I was
keeping a watchful eye on the temperatures. I
> > did,
>
> however, turn on the boost pump, and check fuel. I haven't
been
> > used to
> > having to put the gear down, and coupled
with the distraction,
> and
> > stupidity, was the formal for a
problem.
> >
> > I came in high and a little on the fast side,
in fact, I couldn't
> > figure out
> > why I wasn't
descending, and bleeding speed. How about the fact
> > that
the
> > gear was up. I was deploying both rudders, and marveling
over
> how
> > well that
> > worked to get the altitude
problem solved. Apparently the AEX
> was
> > in
the
> > process of extending the gear when I touched down, which
probably
> > saved me
> > from allot more damage. I
landed a little faster than I had
> been,
> > and sat
>
> it down without letting it float along like all of my other
> >
landings. If I
> > had landed like I did before, the extra 4 or 5
seconds could have
> > let the
> > gear get all the way
down...but it didn't.
> >
> > Damage was really no too
bad. Ground off the face of the landing
> > gear strut
>
> about 1/8" ground the front of the castoring nose wheel casting
>
flat
> > in one
> > spot, and ground off about half of the
hockey puck. As soon as I
> > realized
> > what had
happened, I pulled back all the way on the elevator, and
> > hit
the
> > nose gear switch, which was already turning. The nose
came up and
> I
> > was
> > still rolling at maybe
20-30 MPH. I pulled off on a taxiway,
> shut
> > down,
and
> > got out to inspect the damage. I expected the worst, but
really
> was
> > pretty
> > minimal. I decided
that everything was good enough to taxi back
> to
> >
the
> > hanger, where I pulled the nose cover to check for any
other
> > damage.
> > Everything inside looked fine. The
nose lift is fine. The
> landing
> > gear
> >
strut will have to be replaced, as well as the lower casting on
>
the
> > nose
> > wheel assembly. I may forget allot of
things in the future, but
> > I'll bet
> > that landing gear
won't be one of them.
> >
> > I pulled the engine cowling, and
the belt on the smog pump that I
> > use for
> > vacuum was
fine, so I still don't know the cause of the vacuum
> > problem.
I
> > need to pull the canard, and I/P cover anyway to troubleshoot a
> NAV
> > system
> > problem, so I'll get to the bottom
of it when I do that. I'll
> have
> > plenty
> >
of time while I'm waiting on parts.
> > The only damage to the nose at
all was a couple of cracks in the
> > micro
> > around the
hockey puck. I'll have to sand it down to get the
> rest
>
> of the
> > puck off anyways, so that isn't a big deal.
>
>
> > The good news is that my noise in the right main wheel is
fixed.
> I
> > took it
> > apart, really didn't
find anything, but I repacked the bearings,
> and
> > put
it
> > all back together and the noise is gone. I guess that it
must
> have
> > been an
> > alignment issue with the
disk or something. I was careful to
> snug
> > the
bolts
> > with the same torque while mounting the disk to the
wheel. I
> think
> > that may
> > have been the
issue.
> >
> > Also the engine continues to run
superbly. I still am running
> > warmer than I
> > like,
but I have a plan to remedy that. The rotary engine is so
> >
smooth and
> > quiet that you forget it's running almost.
>
>
> > Steve Brooks
> > Cozy MKIV N75CZ
> > Turbo
rotary
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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