Jim Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Concerning that nose gear wobble. Even cheaper is to get proper training so that your landings don't wear it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hi Jim, It has nothing to do with the landings in general unless you consistently slam it on its nose. Then yes that will speed things up. The old spring setup inside the front suspension allowed the front pin too much movement in its slot which wore it out in a hurry. Then the newer style red elastomeric plastic dampeners came along (free from FD) and that certainly helped, but for some the damage had already started and was left undiscovered so it continued to get worse. Many mechanics did and do not know what to look for so it becomes worse. Even with the new style dampeners if you allow the front end to start a slight wobble (left to right) and I mean slight it will grow over time. The key is to see it at the beginning and stop the wear of the pin moving up and down in its slot. There are two fixes for this unless you really trash it then it's a new front suspension for $1800 plus labor. Like I said in the last post preventive maint is cheap compared to what you'll pay later. Not to mention it will break down when it wants to and it will be at the most inconvenient time for you. It can also show up with up and down play indicating a broken dampener or the nut coming off the through bolt that holds the front end together. I just had one in the shop that had two different mechanics look at this plane in so many hours and neither caught the fact that the front suspension was ready to fall off. The nut was holding on by about 2 threads. These types of things happen all the time with the fuselage and the Rotax engine because people won't get good detailed training and want to learn on the job and be self taught. That doesn't work so well and is compounded by seeing only 2-3 CT's or LSA a year. There's just too much at stake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Thanks for the detailed info Roger. So for the CT owner flying 300hrs a year, he/she can expect to pay $2400-3000 just in mandatory inspections, on top of fixing any problems. That gets steep quickly for folks that fly a lot of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Roger, My 2006 CTSW has about 1200 landings on it, 1000 by students (me and my wife). My nose gear spring is the old style. The first time it's been thoroughly checked was at last months annual. Jeremy said it looked great. What am I doing differently from the people that are seeing all these problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hi Morden, There may be a very small select few private fliers that will ever see 300 hrs a year. I know of only one and he uses it for work so to speak. There are some in the 150 and even up to 200 hr range, but the huge majority are 50-120 hrs. a year. A flight school will see 300 a year and they are mandated by the FAA to get 100 inspections if used in a school. If they are smart then they included an annual condition with one of those 100 hr inspections. Actually $2400 wouldn't be out of line even for a single inspection in some shops. I'm fairly inexpensive (as I don't really have any overhead) and I have guys that get behind the maint curve or want some extra things done and one inspection can cost that. Many places around the country charge $2400+ for a simple and single inspection. One guy I know took his plane in for a simple inspection and walked out $9K light. Many places charge $1800-$4500 for an inspection, so it pays to shop around and from what I have seen the extra money rarely ever buys better maint. Better and more thorough maint comes from the persons character doing the maint. not necessarily the invoice bottom line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Hi Morden, There may be a very small select few private fliers that will ever see 300 hrs a year. I know of only one and he uses it for work so to speak. There are some in the 150 and even up to 200 hr range, but the huge majority are 50-120 hrs. a year. A flight school will see 300 a year and they are mandated by the FAA to get 100 inspections if used in a school. If they are smart then they included an annual condition with one of those 100 hr inspections. Actually $2400 wouldn't be out of line even for a single inspection in some shops. I'm fairly inexpensive (as I don't really have any overhead) and I have guys that get behind the maint curve or want some extra things done and one inspection can cost that. Many places around the country charge $2400+ for a simple and single inspection. One guy I know took his plane in for a simple inspection and walked out $9K light. Many places charge $1800-$4500 for an inspection, so it pays to shop around and from what I have seen the extra money rarely ever buys better maint. Better more thorough maint comes from the persons character doing the maint. not necessarily the invoice bottom line. I agree with everything you wrote. I'm in Georgia, but I'd fly to Arizona (or anywhere else, for that matter) to get a mechanic I can trust to do the work correctly and not overcharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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