Hey Don: Both the donuts and the Belleville springs loose some height over
time. I believe that the donuts loose their height more rapidly than the
Belleville's. The Belleville's provide more spring action (while taxing) and
Univair (and probably Skyport) sells shim washers which will bring the
Belleville's back up to the full height. Of course, the problem is in the
taking apart
of the stack, shimming and putting it back together. I think John Wright Sr.
made a tool that made the stack work much simpler, but I do not have one. I
would recommend putting the Belleville's back on and shimming it as necessary
to
get the proper height.
I have seen the rubber stack loose the height in as little as one year.
The Belleville's seem to last at least 1000 hours, but like anything else, I
suppose a lot depends on the load they are subjected to.
Lynn Nelsen
In a message dated 2/27/2009 7:34:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
Greetings all,
Ever since I've owned my 415C I've tried to get the tail up to the
recommended height. I started right after I bought the plane by having
the A&P at the time do the sleeve or shim upgrade (I can't think of
the correct description but I got the entire package and paperwork
from Lee when he was running Skyport)...and I had them replace the
existing Bellville springs with new rubber donuts. That got me close,
maybe 1 inch or so low. Now, seven years later, is currently 3" below
the recommended height from the top of the vert. stab to the ground.
It has an old style, double fork nose gear (not sure what that means
but it what the current A&P said). The A&P measured the entire donut
stack and compared it to another Coupe he is working on an it is 1/4"
shorter.
My question is this. Do most of you have Bellville springs or donuts?
I don't mind putting donuts in periodically but my concern is whether
even new donuts will get me the correct tail-up attitude that I want.
Can I find Bellville's out there? Are Bellville's the only real solution?
I live in Colorado and fly out of an airport the Eastern Slope of the
Rocky Mtns. and the wind ALWAYS blows here. I landed last night in a
quartering x-wind 14knts peak gusts to 21knts. Those conditions may be
old-hat to a long-time 'Coupe driver, but they had my complete and
undivided attention. 08H did its thing, touching down in a crab at
about 60 mph, and I did my thing by relaxing control on the yoke as it
swung around and started tracking straight. I always add a little
forward yoke to firmly plant the nose wheel and then I'm driving it,
but I'm thinking to myself that I've got to get this fixed.
Don
08H
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1218822736x1201267884/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
%3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)
