flyrotary@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

I also suggested this to the Cozy group…the main objection was only that the “hockey puck” is there NOT to prevent damage to the nose but rather for parking the plane. If there is a moveable ball or wheel instead of a rubber cushion then the plane would be less stable when parked. That seemed to be the only objection to a ball or wheel - well that spooling up a small wheel to many thousand RPM’s when you touch down at 70-80MPH.

Personally I used to be concerned and looked for all sorts of ways to solve the problem. After while I concluded that I was putting in and would potentially put in 2 or 3 times the effort in fabricating an un-proven solution. It only takes 2-3 days to fix the gear-up landing damage with the existing setup. I suppose if I were to land 2 or 3 times without the nose gear I would be better off with a more elegant solution. But if I land 2 or more times without the nose gear being down – I have other issues I better address J

Regards,

Joe Hull

Bellevue (Seattle), Washington

Cozy MkIV #991 (working on Engine & Electrical & Finishing)

http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/pages/JoeHull/index.html

From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Jack Beale
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 10:46 AM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Fw: Gear-UP Landings - problem solved...?

All,

I've tried to post this to the COZY BUILDER'S list without success (no attachments allowed...??!!). I know many of them also read this list and have been discussing crunched noses when landing with the gear up. I hope the message will get thru to those that care - please pass on. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I've been thinking about the dreaded gear-up landing scenario for some time.

The idea that the "hockey-puck" could prevent damage seemed just a bit too good to be true; and, after, reading about several "skinned noses" recently, I decided to research an item that I saw in industry many years ago that may solve the problem.

Then item I'm thinking of looks something like this...

This particular unit is just the first one I found on The Net, but hey come in many sizes and configurations.

What I'm suggesting is a Nylon ball, about 2" in diameter. It would be mounted on the nose of the Cozy in place of the "hockey-puck". Should the gear fail (or, fail to be lowered) the Nylon ball would allow the nose to "roll" rather than "scrape" down the runway until the A/C could be stopped.

I think this would prevent any real damage to the glass.... Whaddayathink...?

Jack Beale
jack.beale@att.net

image001.jpg