LGM Graphix

My Feedback: (22)

This past weekend on a bad landing I managed to break my nose gear retract in my Bobcat, long story short, out to far on final, background was a mountain that the jet blended into with perfect camoflage and I lost sight of the jet right before it found the ground......

Anyway, there is an arm that connects through the side frame on the retract to another arm that attaches to the cylinder. The arm inside has a pin on it about 3/16" diameter that runs in a slot in the trunion to actually retract the gear. That pin and the arm bent. I got the arm straightened, but the pin broke off.
After trying to contact BVM through email with no responses after a week, I finally gave up and tried to fix it myself. The aluminum arm is about 1/8" thick, so I drilled a hole through the arm where the center of the pin was and tapped it for 4-40. I then put 3 4-40 nuts onto a piece of threaded rod, chucked that in my drill press and using a file knocked them down until they were the correct diameter. I then loctited everything together and put it in the arm. It works perfectly, but I'm wondering how long it might last. I fly this jet from grass so the gear does take a bit of a beating. I don't like the idea of buying a new $220 retract, but BVM won't reply to my emails asking if a part is available or if they will repair my retract if I send it in (everything else on the retract is fine).

Here's some pictures of the repair.

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Call them on the phone. They answer quickly. 1-407-327-6333 Ask for Patty

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Double check the turnion, as you could probably tell when you took it apart, relative motion of this pin and the trunion channel it rides in can cause problems. Forces on the gear when extended tend to distort the channel and any relative motion just makes this worse. At some point this distortion can keep the gear from retracting cleanily. You have to get the best fit you can in that channel. A_lot_of force pushes on that pin

IIRC, BVM has a full time guy doing gear repair, it is a big business and they repair everything on the gear.

PaulD

My Feedback: (39)

I would put the thing back together, stick it in the jet and beat on it for a while doing a bunch of retract cycles and see if it survives. Looks like what you did will work - it just may not last.

Have you thought of putting a "wanted" post out to see if anybody's got a parts unit they would sell?

PaulD

dbsonic

My Feedback: (3)

sounds familiar. check the trunion I thought could also get a small deformation from the pin if it was whacked. You might be able to lightly tap with a hammer to get it back to shape. Otherwise, like your ingenuity for the fix. Hard to say how long it will last but material choice(presumably steel maybe Grade 8) was good.

S_Ellzey

Threads are generally bad in shear. I suspect the screw will break, dumping the nose onto the runway. BVM will sell you the parts if you would rather do the repair yourself. As others said - call them, they always answer the phone.

Boomerang1

Just give it a try, the worst that can happen is the pin will shear again & you will have to come up with plan B.

If you are worried about the nose of your jet stick a bit of self adhesive clear plastic under the nose & you
said you fly over grass so that should protect the nose if the leg folds.

John.