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Here are some pictures of the new nose gear on my Bidule 55. I wanted something more foolproof than than either the factory gear or my clone of the factory nose gear, which never broke per se, but was a maintenance hog.
The biggest problem I saw was the stock mounting boss/pivot. It has a small hole pattern and seemed guaranteed to torque out either its own mounting bolts or plywood from the firewall. The second concern was the way the stock nose gear knee added a long torque arm to the landing forces directed back to the servo. We don't have that anymore either.
Initial flights are good. The system is a lot smoother functioning too because the soft plastic bearing is gone. There was some minor machine work involved in making this that I believe could be omitted with more time spent finding raw materials sized to fit together.
The servo saver is also pictured, it is a 10 minute version of the machined aluminum one I made last summer ... but done in wood utilizing its excellent axial strength. Fast to make, simple to assemble, and rugged on landings.
The biggest problem I saw was the stock mounting boss/pivot. It has a small hole pattern and seemed guaranteed to torque out either its own mounting bolts or plywood from the firewall. The second concern was the way the stock nose gear knee added a long torque arm to the landing forces directed back to the servo. We don't have that anymore either.
Initial flights are good. The system is a lot smoother functioning too because the soft plastic bearing is gone. There was some minor machine work involved in making this that I believe could be omitted with more time spent finding raw materials sized to fit together.
The servo saver is also pictured, it is a 10 minute version of the machined aluminum one I made last summer ... but done in wood utilizing its excellent axial strength. Fast to make, simple to assemble, and rugged on landings.
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