Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19981015104104.00c9dcb4@olsusa.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 10:41:04 -0400
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
From: N295VV@aol.com (by way of Marvin Kaye <marvkaye@olsusa.com>)
Subject: L-IV nose gear links and other hazards
Mime-Version: 1.0

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Sorry to hear about your gear collapse on your IV.  When I visited Redmond,
the first thing that I was handed at the parts counter was a set of
replacement links that were about 3/8" thick.  I wondered at the time if I had
missed the announcement of an SB--it is interesting that others hadn't seen
anything!  We need to give this circumstance a name--let's call it the Lancair
Vacuum!  Or the Monkey Syndrome--you know, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no
evil, warn no evil!   Along these same lines, I have yet to hear any more
about the interference between the flap acuator and its pushrod--am I the only
one to have this?  We do now have an SB about cracks on the arm--better look
at your pushrod condition when you open it up!

 If a skewed landing will bend the links, are the four tiny bolts  holding
each side of the top of the gear leg enough when we install the beefed up
links?  Or will the enormous stress that bent the links be transferred to the
bolts in its entirety, causing the bolts to fail?  The nose gear leg is quite
long, and has a tremendous moment applied to it when it hits the ground at 115
mph.

Yesterday there was an inquiry about safety-was his 3 year old daughter safe
around the chemicals and paints we use?  As I am a chemist, be warned that she
should only be allowed into the area only when it has been thoroughly cleaned
and washed down.  As for yourself, wear 3M Dustmasks constantly.  Get yourself
a dust vacuum that will sit outside your construction area, so that dust will
be removed as you generate it. The dust we generate contains glass fibers of a
size that are not much better than asbestos when they get in our lungs!  The
amines in the epoxy are also really bad--they are also found in the green
cured sanding dust, and should be rigorously removed from your work area.

Thanks for the accolades on inventing the optical sensor, but I didn't invent
it--I did invent an autorefill  and temperature-controlled system that is in
use in the semiconductor industry to make semiconductor chips and fiber optic
cable.  I did modify the sensor to solve the problems of using it with
corrosive chemicals, and the use of PFA fluoropolymer as well as modified LEDs
was mine.  The original sensor was glass, which had limitations as to depth
because of shock problems.  The sensor--properly constructed, has extremely
long life because it is simple, has no moving parts, and the LEDs have tens of
thousands of hours life expectancy.  If you use one, shrink wrap or pot  all
wires on to the sensor, and it should function for several lifetimes.  If I
were building a 360 today, I would use this in my fuel system, particularly if
it is commercially available at a reasonable price.  It is a fool-proof level
detector.

David Jones