I just bought a beautiful RV 9A to use on my Farm strip which is 2000 feet long and very smooth. My bird has the Antisplat nose mod so I thought it would be fine. Yesterday I read a thread describing a nose gear failure on a ?very smooth grass strip? after a normal landing the gear tube bent above the antisplat brace at 20 mph. He said the nose raised then fell to the ground as the gear tube bent completely. It didn?t flip over but of course the prop struck the ground. This makes me wonder if a gear tube failure is inevitable after enough landings on grass. Could it be that the slight but constant wiggling that the upper noise gear tube receives from taxing on grass will cause it to harden over time leading to eventual failure?
If this is the case is there some deformity to inspect for that would warn of imminent failure?
Joby Wieser
If this is the case is there some deformity to inspect for that would warn of imminent failure?
Joby Wieser