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On Nov 12, 2013, at 4:22 AM, "Adam Molny" <Adam@ValidationPartners.com> wro= te:

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Sadly, following a fuel stop in Coshoc= ton, Ohio (i40) on Nov 1, my Lega= cy had an uncommanded nose gear retraction. The engine wasn=E2=80=99t running b= ut the propeller was damaged. My poor plane is currently sitting 400 miles away= in Ohio w= hile the prop is out for repair.

Symptoms

A few weeks before the incident I extended the gear for landing and the pump kept running after all three were down and locked. I could hear that the pump was= in bypass mode. When laying out the panel I installed the 2A gear relay breaker= front and center next to the actuator switch so that I could easily practice emergency gear extensions. So I promptly pulled the 2A breaker. Guess what =E2= =80=93 the pump kept running! I had to ask my mom to pull the 40A hydraulic pump breaker since it is on the far right side of the instrument panel. That stop= ped the pump. Since I was at a strange airport I borrowed a screwdriver, removed= the baggage bulkhead and began troubleshooting. A few raps on the faulty rel= ay with a screwdriver handle fixed the problem. These are the Bosch relays that were recommended on the LML back in the late 90=E2=80=99s. =

It happened a second time a week or so later. This time I was flying right seat= working on my CFI-I. I pulled the 40A breaker then reset it and my instructo= r was none the wiser. I ordered replacement relays (approx $25ea). The relays arrived shortly before I had to leave on a trip and there wasn=E2=80=99t tim= e to install them.

The Incident

I was headed from KHWV to 1H0, an 800+ mile trip, for LOBO instructor training and= bucking a 45kt headwind with plenty of turbulence. Like most 2-seat Lancairs my pump= will occasionally blip in flight if the hydraulic pressure sags. This time t= he pump blipped and kept running. Once again I had to have my passenger pull th= e 40A breaker. We briefed the plan for extending the gear. I would select gear= down, then he would reset the 40A breaker, then I would reset the 2A breaker. We completed those steps but the gear did not extend. I flew an upwind leg at pattern altitude and performed an emergency gear extension. We landed normal= ly and refueled.

My plan was to do some troubleshooting on the ground and pull the baggage bulkh= ead access panel if necessary. I double- and triple-checked that the gear select= or switch was in the down position before turning on the master. The nose gear i= mmediately retracted. It happens very fast since the nose wheel is perfectly happy roll= ing backwards with practically no resistance. The mains don=E2=80=99t move since= they would have to be dragged sideways against the pavement. The plan fell with a= clang and came to rest on the two lower prop tips of my three-bladed Aerocomposites prop. The lower cowl and nose gear doors never touched the pavement.

The cause (speculative)=

I believe the up relay contacts welded shut due to arcing. Since the down relay was st= ill working, selecting gear down closed the down relay so that the pump was bein= g powered in both directions at once. This is why the gear didn=E2=80=99t even= try to extend in flight. I have an airspeed switch to prevent inadvertent gear retraction below 90kts, but with the up relay welded shut it had no effect. <= o:p>

The plan

The propeller is on its way to American Propeller Service for inspection and repair. They will sand down the blades and inspect them to determine the ext= ent of the damage. They will also inspect the hub since it must have taken considerable stress. Once the prop is back in Ohio I will fly out there, fix the g= ear problem, and THEN reinstall the prop (how ugly would it be if the plane fell= off the jacks onto a brand new prop!).

Choosing your fuel stop

We chose our fuel stop by looking at Foreflight for good fuel prices along our route of flight. Since this was only a fuel stop we didn=E2=80=99t look at o= ther amenities. It turns out that Coshocton Ohio is quite rural and our incident h= appened at 5pm on a Friday. The nearest rental car agency is in Zanesville, 45 miles away. T= o make matters worse, the town is in the middle of a 20-mile dead zone with no AT&T wireless coverage, making communication with the outside world very difficul= t. It took fair amount of complicated logistics to get ourselves to a commercial airport for the trip home.

Choosing an experimental propeller

Since two blades were facing down, one blade struck the leading edge and the other= hit the trailing edge. The leading edge has a nickel alloy sheath that exten= ds all the way to the tip. There was no visible damage. However the other blade= =E2=80=99s trailing edge is very thin and flexible and was clearly damaged. Aerocomposi= tes is no longer making propellers. They sold their technology to McCauley, but McCauley only plans to make certified props. The prop shop told me my prop h= as a carbon fiber core with a fiberglass outer layer. If only the fiberglass is= damaged the prop will be repairable. If not I will have to either find a replacement blade somewhere or replace the whole prop with another brand.

Insurance

My insurance is up for renewal on 11/23. The renewal premium was $3438 against a= $170,000 hull value. After the incident my premium was raised to $3781. I suppose I can=E2=80=99t complain since the repair bill will be in the $6,000= -7,000 range, assuming the prop is repairable.

Safety practices during maintenance

I=E2=80=99m not sure what lessons I can pass along from this experience other than to be= extremely cautious when troubleshooting gear problems on the ground. The onl= y way to be completely safe would have been to jack up the plane before turnin= g on the master. I found out later that the maintenance shop at this field is onl= y open M-F 7a-4p so very little assistance would have been available until the= following Monday regardless.

-Adam Molny

Legacy N181AM, 197.5 hrs and holding

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