Message-ID: <37C57EAB.EC555E3F@swefco.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 10:52:01 -0700
From: Hal Woodruff <woodruff@swefco.com>
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Subject: Shocks
References: <19990826044531.AAA28555@truman.olsusa.com>
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Yesterday afternoon I completed the installation of John Spry's shocks onto my L360.  The
subsequent taxi and flight test astounded me.  The ride out to the runway end was smooth
and comfortable.  No more rattling control rods, flaps, and ailerons.  The landings were
the best part.  Touch-down was smooth, with no discernable bounce.  On one landing, I
dropped it from about 1 to 2 feet with only a rebound onto the nose gear.  Normally a
landing as such would have bounced me into the air again with subsequent skipping down
the runway like a stone skipping on water.  I'm a happy customer.

I've uploaded separately some pictures of the shocks.  One pict shows the donut-assembly
next to the shock.  The other photo shows old vs. new installed.  A single shock
weights1.4# more than the compression donut assembly.  (shock - 3.2#; donut - 1.8#).
Total installed weight increase is 2.8#'s.  The body of the shock and bottom fitting is
of 6065 T6 aluminum and hard anodized.  The machine work is professional.

The installation would have been easy, 15 minutes per side, once the aircraft was up on
jacks. However, I complicated the process by giving John the wrong dimensions for the
length of the shocks.  While the shock installed easily the clearance of the tire had
changed and the middle gear door was askew because the shock was a bit too long
necessitating an adjustment.  I made a fixture to compress the spring to enable
disassembly of the shock.  Once the spring is removed the adjustment is easy by screwing
the bottom end in or out.  Length adjustment of approx. ą0.12" is possible.   A trial and
error process provided the exact length needed.  Reassembly of the shock with the spring
completed the process.

If I were to order these again (and I would) I would remove the compression donut
assembly and get an exact measurement on the work bench.  The length needs to measured
uncompressed which necessitates putting the airplane on jacks.

As I said before, I'm a happy customer.  No more excuses for bad landings, however.

Hal Woodruff

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