Went out this
morning for a short flight in LNC2 N7PN. It was shorter than I
planned. On takeoff, the gear transit light stayed on and the right main
green light remained on. I pulled the circuit breakers and did a 90-270
back to a low approach to runway 29 with the rising sun behind me. My
shadow showed all three gear extended, but I only had one light. I
pulled up to a downwind, tried the hydraulics again to no avail, pulled the
breakers, opened the bypass valve, fishtailed the airplane, and the left main
green light illuminated. When I slowed to about 90 knots, the nose
showed down and locked, so I landed. Total flight time was about 6
minutes.
When I dismounted,
I noticed hydraulic fluid on the right flap. I crawled under the
airplane and the gear door sequence valve had come apart. The snap ring
holding the mechanism in place apparently popped out or something. I
examined the valve in the right gear well and saw no obvious signs of wear, so
I really don't know what happened. I had never dismantled the valve, so
I don't know if the snap ring was installed properly or not. I hadn't
paid much attention to the sequence valves other than inspecting them well at
the annual condition inspection. From now on, they'll be a specific
preflight item.
Naf
Paul Nafziger
LNC2 N7PN