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Earl,

I had the exact problem that Dan was talking about.  My
second generation of the "old style" nose gear broke on
take-off.  Just when you don't want something like this to
happen...  full power and about 50 knots.  It destroyed my
beautiful Great American prop (which I could no longer
replace), the spinner, crush plate, lower cowl, the strut
itself, the over center linkage, the hydraulic cylinder and
the hard points in the nose gear tunnel.  To add insult to
injury, the departing nose wheel bounced between the belly
and the pavement punching 4 holes in the belly pan.
Luckily, no engine damage.  (great view of the runway
though...)

A good friend with another LNC2 (old nose strut) was
pushing his bird back into his hanger after a nice flight...
Just as the plane was back in the hanger, the nose gear
strut broke at the top of the "T".  The strut went sideways
while he was left holding the propeller, putting the nose of
the plane as gently on the ground as possible.

Don't even hesitate.  Buy the oleo from Ed or from the
factory.  Believe me, it's cheap compared to my expenses.

Neil
sn. 138

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