Today, I noticed a new clunking sound while backing my Vixen (Series 5 trigear) back into the hangar. On inspection, I discovered the bottom center engine mount bolt had sheared off. This bottom center weldment & bolt joins the flange for the nosegear shock assembly that takes most of the nosegear shocks. I suspect the prior owner had an issue with this because of the patch on the firewall covering a suspicious hole in the firewall. Unfortunately it looks like the threaded part of the sheared off bolt is still inside the engine mount. Right now, I am hoping I won’t need to take the engine off to get at it. Oh boy, what fun. Has anyone else with a nosewheel had this happen? And before any of you tailwheel guys decide to make a comment about converting to tailwheel, I know all about pros & cons of both configurations and I’m sticking with my machine. I’m looking for feedback and a fix to get back in the air. Thanks folks.

Skot