When I converted from Monowheel to Trigear I had to admit that real men fly
taildraggers and I had left that party - B U T:
the Trigear
- lands/taxies better
- allows for that cabin-centre channel to be used for beer cans
- has electric flaps (one can take-off with 10 deg flaps)
- makes prop strikes virtually impossible
or if you have a prop strike in a Trigear - you'd need to replace more than
just
the prop...
Understably great was my surprise a few flights ago when I found my prop had
strike marks and funny rubber-like material at the tips.
Inspection revealed that I had started the engine with the (fully
swivelling) nosewheel
pointing forward. With the brakes engaged the plane tends to nose down with
rpm.
(Typical view when one sees a Cessna start engine).
The nosedown force would be way too weak to allow the prop to touch the tyre
though.
Inspection has revealed furthermore that the bungee cord that holds the
nosewheel
in check had lost most of its force and only the steel cable prevented the
nosewheel
---From collapsing.
The bungee cord's weakness comes from the high tension it was installed
under
and the temperature change since then: Installed in July at 30 deg C and
flown
lately in 0 deg conditions.
Andy might come up with an advice on how to install the bungee cord - I
would
suggest that the 175 % stipulated by the manual are more than actually
necessary.
Or even more correctly: Don't only exchange your oil when winter comes but
re-
tension your bungees, too.
This should not affect monosheelers as the bungee there is installed with
less tension.
The Trigear bungee though is close to its terminal tension when installed as
per
instructions.
Sincerely,
<Thomas, kit # 81> now over 120 kn cruise without fairings
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