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Old May 22nd 10, 08:03 PM posted to rec.aviation.homebuilt
Stu Fields
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Posts: 87
Default Quality of kitplane designs?


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On May 21, 7:44 am, Stealth Pilot
wrote:


btw I saw a really beautifully built RV6 landed a kiss on greaser on
its test flight then go plonk on to its nose as the nose leg broke
off. vans denied a problem. tisc tisc.



Yeah, and a buddy of mine saw an RV land on its nosewheel when the
pilot made a bad approach and forced it on. Porpoised down the runway
and broke the wheelpant. That sort of piloting is really common and
regularly breaks nosegears on Cessna 150s and 172s. That RV pilot flew
away again with the busted nosehweel in the baggage compartment, but
what damage has been done to the leg now, and when is it going to snap
off and cause a serious accident? And who will get the blame? Van's of
course, not the clumsy pilot who failed to get the thing NDI'd after
the incident. How often are RVs flipping over busted nosegears that
were abused by their owners? Can Van's be expected to produce idiot-
proof airplanes? Aren't we supposed to learn to fly so that fragile
structures like airplanes don''t get broken and don't need redesigning
to the point they're too heavy to fly?

Dan
Dang. As a pilot with a few hours in the Cessna products which included
hauling sky divers with an avg of 15min between landings, I never saw or
even heard much of people losing Nose gears. The Cessna was just very easy
to land without getting the nose gear in the way..