The nose gear strut, that I obtained from NV Aero, broke about half inch
beyond the firewall attachment bracket on November 6, 2019. This strut was
made of 4130 steel and bent to get the two angles for nose wheel attachment
and tracking. I think the strut was made by Diehl Aeronautical, but not
definitely sure of that. When the strut collapsed, while I was rolling out
from the landing doing about 40 Kts, got a prop strike, shredded the prop,
and trashed the cowl. The prop strike canted my track off the center line.
With nose sliding on the asphalt, was unable to steer with differential
braking. When the nose hit the dirt on left side of the runway, did a left
quarter turn ground loop that collapsed the right main gear, breaking away
at the strut attach bracket on the right side of the center main spar. The
center main spar cracked in three places at the gear leg bracket bolt
locations. My insurance company totaled KR-2 N6242 with only 5 flights.
The FAA investigation determined the nose strut had a pre-existing crack in
the curve where the strut broke. During fabrication the strut had been bent
in a cold condition and had not been properly heat treated. My insurance
company adjuster from Global Aerospace pointed out the rust in the
pre-existing crack. The FAA investigator stated that the KR-2 nose struts
have a history of breaking in the same manner as N6242.
My guess is if this were a production aircraft, the FAA would have issued
some sort of Airworthiness Directive (AD). But, not going to happen for a
home built.
Bottom line: Do be really careful making a nose gear strut for your KR.
Sid Wood
ex Tri-gear KR-2 N6242
California, MD, USA
----------------------------------------------------------
I had been looking at the Nose wheel assembly from NVAero but they appear
to be gone now. Does anyone know of a source for the nose gear assembly or
a good alternative nose gear setup?
Brad Payne
bradleyspa...@gmail.com
------------------------------
From: Craig Williams <cr...@kr2seafury.com>
Yeah, NVaero took their ball and went home. :( Check out the nose gear on
the RV6A and RV10. I bet you could make one of those work. Otherwise I
would look at some 4130 tubing and build your own.
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