Nose gear maintenance

[Dave S]

Skot,

I don't know if it relates to your observation - might check Kitfox's service bulletins

http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/FAQ-Tech.htm SB 55 & 58 apply to certain aircraft

55 is about an earlier model front nose gear strut where cracks showed up in some cases on the gear leg sides - In this case, what might happen is the front half of the nose gear leg breaking off in a hard - nosewheel first landing......but that doesn't sound like the type of damage you have observed.

58 reflects observed builder error and applies to nose gear planes where some builders did not correctly modify the bearing area in the nose gear shock absorbing unit. This would result in binding and possibly breaking who-knows-what..

I am trying to visualize the damage you are speaking of; and, what comes to mind is if the upper top bolt on the elastomere donut stack may have broken or become unscrewed - that could possibly result in the top of the assembly tipping backwards on the rod end and punching into the firewall as the nosegear is no longer attached to the lower end of the engine mount. Please see the attached photo - a little grainy because I cropped it - but take a look at the geometry.

This is a bit of speculation on my part, but I have thought about the possible failure points of the nosegear.

FWIW - the bolt on top of the elastomere stack is an annual condition inspection item. If it fell out in the air - the result would be tha gear leg rotating down and the pointy end punching into the fabric from the bottom. On the ground, it would work the other way with weight on the nose ( and probably a whole lot less damage).

If you have a chance to get a photo - that might help people on the list with helping out.

Sincerely,

Dave S