Belly Landing - Involve the insurance company?

On May 25, 5:40*pm, David wrote:
On May 24, 1:22*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:

All -

Would love opinions from anyone who's been through an insurance-
related claim on a glider... *My DG-300's gear collapsed on landing
Saturday. *The down-lock tab squished into the rubber "donut" spacer,
..............

Thanks,

--Noel

Noel,

Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well. Try it
and see.

I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut.
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

David

My 300 has done this as well, it very important to make sure the
handle is really engaged hard, I was lucky we had come to a halt
before it subsided rather majestically with no damage. Obviously
slipped out at that point.

On May 25, 6:30*pm, brianDG303 wrote:
On May 25, 9:40*am, David wrote:



On May 24, 1:22*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:

All -

Would love opinions from anyone who's been through an insurance-
related claim on a glider... *My DG-300's gear collapsed on landing
Saturday. *The down-lock tab squished into the rubber "donut" spacer,
..............

Thanks,

--Noel

Noel,

Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well. Try it
and see.

I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut.
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

David

David,
What happened to you and to Noel almost happened to me, but the gear
warning buzzer went off. It is possible to set up the gear warning
microswitch/magnet pair so that the gear handle has to be hard against
the stop or the alarm will sound. Easy way to save some money.

Brian

Do you have a copy of how to do that? I would be bery nterested.
Jackie

On Tue, 25 May 2010 09:40:30 -0700 (PDT), David
wrote:


Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

There's a modification available since about 1990 - it's a brass
half-tube that shields the rubber and forces the pilot to push the
lever fully forward before he can turn it towards the sidewall. Works
like a charm.


I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well.

Indeed - this is probably the most important point to know if you're
flying a DG-30x - the gear lever must touch the sidewall if the gear
is extended.



I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut.
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

Good advice, too.


Cheers
Andreas
Bye
Andreas

On May 26, 12:55*am, JAS wrote:
On May 25, 6:30*pm, brianDG303 wrote:



On May 25, 9:40*am, David wrote:

On May 24, 1:22*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:

All -

Would love opinions from anyone who's been through an insurance-
related claim on a glider... *My DG-300's gear collapsed on landing
Saturday. *The down-lock tab squished into the rubber "donut" spacer,
..............

Thanks,

--Noel

Noel,

Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well. Try it
and see.

I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut.
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

David

David,
What happened to you and to Noel almost happened to me, but the gear
warning buzzer went off. It is possible to set up the gear warning
microswitch/magnet pair so that the gear handle has to be hard against
the stop or the alarm will sound. Easy way to save some money.

Brian

Do you have a copy of how to do that? I would be bery nterested.
Jackie

Jackie,
the gear handle is attached to a tube that runs behind a removable
panel, take that off. The micro-switch/magnet pair can be there. Move
the magnet on the tube so that the switch opens if the handle is not
in exactly the right place.

Brian

On May 26, 5:23*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Tue, 25 May 2010 09:40:30 -0700 (PDT), David

wrote:
Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

There's a modification available since about 1990 - it's a brass
half-tube that shields the rubber and forces the pilot to push the
lever fully forward before he can turn it towards the sidewall. Works
like a charm.

I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well.

Indeed - this is probably the most important point to know if you're
flying a DG-30x - the gear lever must touch the sidewall if the gear
is extended.

I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut.
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

Good advice, too.

Cheers
Andreas
Bye
Andreas

Andreas,

Do you have a pointer to the brass half-tube mod? Is it on the DG web
site? Thanks.

Noel,

One more thing.

The black gear handle has two obvious orientations, 180 degrees to
each other. One of those orientations will let the tab go a little
"deeper"
behind the end of the rod. After my incident I noticed I really wanted
the handle turned by 180 degrees from what it was.

Hope this makes sense, otherwise let me know.

David

On May 26, 3:27*pm, brianDG303 wrote:
On May 26, 12:55*am, JAS wrote:



On May 25, 6:30*pm, brianDG303 wrote:

On May 25, 9:40*am, David wrote:

On May 24, 1:22*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:

All -

Would love opinions from anyone who's been through an insurance-
related claim on a glider... *My DG-300's gear collapsed on landing
Saturday. *The down-lock tab squished into the rubber "donut" spacer,
..............

Thanks,

--Noel

Noel,

Same exact thing happened to me in my DG300. The fact that the tab
can get in between the rubber and the end of the rod is an unfortunate
byproduct of this design.

I now make sure every time that the tab goes beyond the
end of the rod. The handle should be spring loaded (there is a mod for
that)
so make sure the handle applies touches the sidewall firmly. If it is
pushing against the rubber it will not. So that's an indicator as
well. Try it
and see.

I recommend you have your mechanic check the landing gear gas strut..
Mine needed to be replaced. The gas strut is what keeps the gear over
center in the extended position.

David

David,
What happened to you and to Noel almost happened to me, but the gear
warning buzzer went off. It is possible to set up the gear warning
microswitch/magnet pair so that the gear handle has to be hard against
the stop or the alarm will sound. Easy way to save some money.

Brian

Do you have a copy of how to do that? I would be bery nterested.
Jackie

Jackie,
the gear handle is attached to a tube that runs behind a removable
panel, take that off. The micro-switch/magnet pair can be there. Move
the magnet on the tube so that the switch opens if the handle is not
in exactly the right place.

Brian

Many thanks, a job for Friday! I have had a couple of scares and this
would be a useful mod.
Jackie