Help, Nose gear up landing...

[saybeengineering]

Yesterday I experience a nose gear up landing in my Long EZ . The nose strut was worn off at the uppwer part and substantial amount of glass was also worn off from the bottom, which exposed the foam. Given I am a non-builder, I highly respect the experience and the vast amount of knowledge I have gather from this forum and its proud members. I have some pictures I would like to present for options on how to repair the glass given its position on the airplane. Please contact me via email if I can present the pictures. Email: saybeengineering@hughes.net

Per a fellow canardian, he recommended me to purchcase a new strut from Featherlite. Do they have a website, contact :?: ?? Given the situation, I will be installing the eznoselift with its AEX module and I believe I can take care of the nose gear and its derivatives straight forward. However, the glass worries me given that I lack experience on WHAT type of materials and procedure to follow. I thank in advance everybody for their time and knowledge .

Respectfully,
Afif Saybe
LongEZ HR-ATQ

[cloudman]

Anybody going to fess up and tell how they made a nose repair after sliding to a stop on the runway?

[Gilbert DRIEUX]

Hello,
I send this as private message to John Mellor 2 weeks ago.
If that can help.
Job "as described" is not difficult. I'm the builder of the plane.
-------------------------------------------------
Welcome to club !
Last july this year, I landed "gear up" too........
They said :"they are those who have, and those who will" !.....

I'm flying again from mid-august, two weeks later.

I repaired NG1 strut with Unidirectional glass and epoxy.
So that to restore the original shape (and a little more.. +5mm); From top (NG6) down to NG3 (this one was partialy destroyed.... So I made a new one, w new size; easy.).
I made each layer 5 plies UND; The shorter at the strut, from top; and increasing length until external final layer.
End of last layer : 15 cm after NG3 position.
NG5 plate : had to replace it too (totaly disappeared !). Change the tickness from 1/8" to 10 mm (0.4 inch) with conterbored hole fore screws heads => Scews' lenght is the same , but they are now 6 mm from surface...... if an other gear-up landing hapend !

If that can help...

PS: Total slip on concret runway 250m ; 820 ft.......

Regards,
(from nose-dragger)

[saybeengineering]

Thanks for the help and the promotion to the nose dragger club. My strut was badly damage so I'm hoping I can replace it an mold it to the proper size of the aircraft. I need to replace the NG3, the NG6 and givne the situation, will upgrade to a noselift system.

I need to take care of the undernose glass and the proper materia for it. From your experience which Epoxy do you recommend and which glass???

[Gilbert DRIEUX]

Hello Saybe.......
Just to add that I make my NG1 Nose strut myself (25 years ago...) w UND layers,; layers after layers, as much as required to fulfil original external dimensions.
After "nose landing", 10 mm were missing at NG1 head (about 5 mm from NG6, page 17-3), decreasing to 0 mm at mid-NG3;
It is now 5 mm thicker than initial, from TOP to buttom NG15 Casting ( finishing to 0mm as reaching NG15).

For repair, I use EPOXY and glass for .... boat repair. Easyer to get.  I was out of original material !
Rebuilt the undernose is not critical. Just a little more than aesthetic....
If you can't buy a new strut neither want to repair the damged one, you can make a new one yourself, UND layers after UND layers. So I did mine fisrt, and repair it now.

I add electrical warning from gear position and power setting, per plan.  Leds, horn and microswitchs.
Work well....
See  : Varieze Manufacturing Manual" Section III
Electrical System.
pages 4 & 5. (page ( is for old nose gear system, just imagine how to choose the right place for the microswitch in the new worm-gear system)

Noselift system doesn't avoid you to forget it downwind....... !            You need a warning, as described in section III.

Regards.

[Charles Davis]

Here is the Featherlite contact info:
Larry Lombard
FeatherLite
Box 781
Booneville, CA 95415


Nose strut price $85 + $12 shipping, $97 total.

I think thier email link is on the Links page, but they aren't quick to respond to emails.  Best to call them, but I can't seen to find their phne number right now.

You may need some help if you want to replace the strut.  It will take a lot of work to remove and replace.  The attitude that the plane sits at during the takeoff roll can dramatically affect the takeoff roll, so you want to trim the length correctly.

[saybeengineering]

Thanks for the featherlite information I will contact them tomorrow. I'm in Honduras and most everything for speciality puropses has to be imported. I will order the glassan oam from Spruce, but the epoxy (hazmat) I will have to look for it locally, Is there a particular EPOXY I SHOULD NOT USE??

Thanks,
Afif

[saybeengineering]

Do you have a diagram available of the position (how and where to install) of the warning system of the gear???

Afif

[saybeengineering]

What is the typical thickness of the foam used which is sandwiched on the nose section?