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OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:09 pm
by Scooper

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 6:19 pm
by Warmi
He dropped and bounced but the collapse itself was , it looks like, simply because he pushed the stick forward or was just too nose heavy .... just my guess.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 7:06 pm
by Scooper
Yeah, he slammed the nose down pretty hard. Ouch!

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:20 pm
by ShawnM
And here I though only the SportCruiser could collapse a nose gear leg. :mrgreen:

Certainly not what you want to happen on a long cross country........or ever. Hope everyone is ok.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:54 am
by Warmi
https://www.barnstormers.com/ad_detail. ... fieds.html
Inspect at AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh beside the Student Built display area July 23-28

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:20 am
by MrMorden
It was a good hit, but from the film it didn't look like it was enough to crush the gear. Does anybody know if the nose gear on an Arion is particularly weak or vulnerable?

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:51 am
by Scooper
MrMorden wrote:It was a good hit, but from the film it didn't look like it was enough to crush the gear. Does anybody know if the nose gear on an Arion is particularly weak or vulnerable?
This photo on the Arion website doesn't inspire confidence in the nose gear robustness. Most photos I've seen have a fairing covering, but the actual strut (if you can call it that) looks pretty spindly.

Image

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:53 am
by Scooper
Warmi wrote:https://www.barnstormers.com/ad_detail. ... fieds.html
Inspect at AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh beside the Student Built display area July 23-28
Hmmm. I wonder if the seller was demonstrating it to a prospective buyer and the buyer botched the landing.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:41 pm
by MrMorden
Scooper wrote:
MrMorden wrote:It was a good hit, but from the film it didn't look like it was enough to crush the gear. Does anybody know if the nose gear on an Arion is particularly weak or vulnerable?
This photo on the Arion website doesn't inspire confidence in the nose gear robustness. Most photos I've seen have a fairing covering, but the actual strut (if you can call it that) looks pretty spindly.

Image
It's about the same as an RV-12. But Van's has said their gear are "taxi gear", not landing gear, and not meant to take any real landing abuse.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:39 pm
by Warmi
A taxi gear ?
Sounds like a marketing way of saying “ we make product with a crappy front gear so don’t ever make a mistake cause it will cost you dearly ”

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:02 pm
by TimTaylor
That would be the first place to use some of the proposed increase in MTOW.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:46 am
by MrMorden
Warmi wrote:A taxi gear ?
Sounds like a marketing way of saying “ we make product with a crappy front gear so don’t ever make a mistake cause it will cost you dearly ”
I do not disagree, but Van himself said this exact thing to me at Oshkosh a couple years ago. My reaction qas about the same as yours.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:49 am
by drseti
I fully agree that one should never land nosegear first in a tricycle gear aircraft. Nevertheless, I just looked carefully through FAR 1.1, and FAA gives no definition therein for "taxi gear."

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 12:05 pm
by FastEddieB
MrMorden wrote:
Warmi wrote:A taxi gear ?
Sounds like a marketing way of saying “ we make product with a crappy front gear so don’t ever make a mistake cause it will cost you dearly ”
I do not disagree, but Van himself said this exact thing to me at Oshkosh a couple years ago. My reaction qas about the same as yours.
Yeah, that strikes me as a dumb comment that reflects on a poor engineering decision to go with a marginal design.

Re: OSH Arion Lightning nose gear collapse

Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 12:16 pm
by akroguy
Certified nose dragger airplanes fail nose gears too. From my time as a Van's RV8 builder and pilot, and interaction with Van, he is a cautious, skilled and conservative designer. He is also blunt in his opinions. He made improvements to the RV6A nose gear when they were having failures. He did his part, he expects the pilots of his designs to do theirs. Don't slam the airplane down on the nose gear. It's piss poor technique. Period.