manks

I have not flown in a couple of weeks, today was a perfect day light winds, hot, humid and a Holiday to boot - PERFECT. I went out to the field around noon, there were several of the guys around, I chatted, set up, did a good preflight check (all connections, control surfaces, alignment - everything was 100%).

I tuned the engine, did my range check, PERFECT.

Took off into a slight breeze - the wind was picking up a bit, no problems some circuits to get used to the plane again, a loop or two Split S - all without a problem. I did my first touch and go, smooth enough, I was now about 5 min into the flight, and did another touch and go, again, no problems. Flying by the pits I noticed it for the first time, my nose wheel was gone, not just the tire, but the enter thing had come loose and fallen off.

Now there is a bit more pressure, the wind has picked up a bit more, I have a problem with my gear, and now one of the guys yells from the Pits, "YOU KNOW YOUR NOSE WHEEL IS GONE!" (in hind sight I apperciated that gesture - I am a new pilot and one of the vets was trying to look out for me.)

I am thinking, should I just keep flying - this will be my only flight of the day - but I am a bit nervous, I want to get the plane down now. First attempt, too fast, I want to be as slow as possible, so I waive it off, second time, same thing, now I am going to force it down, get some altitude, and cut the engine (I would have done it down low, but I could not find the kill button the first time I tried, so I went up high looked down and pushed the button).

I am now dead stick, did a small circle to drop some altitude and speed, lined it up, carefully to make sure I get over the trees, then gently get it on to the ground. I was a bit fast, but got it on the main gear, then the nose dropped and it came a fast skidding stop.

Got a round of applause from the guys in the pits for a great dead stick.

No damage to the plane, only lost nose gear. I have a second set up at home and will fit it tonight.

Another lesson learned - check the nose gear in your preflight.

Wild Foamy

happened on my Yamamoto a few flights ago but it was the left wheel, a few seconds after takeoff it dropped off into the field (someone ran out and got it so i didnt loose it) and then a couple of minutes later the engine died during a loop, so i was landing deadstick with 1 wheels (mines taildragger) and i ended up gliding into a dry rocky field, ripped out the U/C but fixed it with a bit of epoxy

many congrats on getting yours down in one piece though! good work

Dr1Driver

And another good reason to fly taildraggers! Glad you got it down without much damage.

Dr.1

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I have seen this happen at our field, our saving grace is we have a grass stip along side of the paved runway. It has saved a few airplanes and it is handy for new pilots that have a tendency to come in a little too hot at first. I know one of the airplanes was mine.

manks

Our field is all grass, the problem is there is a bunch of bad stuff all around the field. Trees, heavy brush, a river - not a good place to go in and finding a Nosewheel in that junk is impossible, finding a full plane is difficult enough. Even if I had seen the gear come off I am pretty sure there is no way I would have been able to find it. Anyway, I have replaced it and the plane is now 100% ready to go again.

Maybe Saturday AM?????

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

Similar nose-wheel story. Nexstar. After taking off, I noticed that my nosewheel was turned perpendicular to the plane. The control rod had come loose during take-off. Finished the flight, and then set up for the landing. Got the plane sinking with the nose up. Touched down on the mains and kept full elevator on. The plane rolled to nearly a stop before dropping the nosewheel onto the ground. No damage, no bends, didn't even stall the engine. Repaired the connection - back in the air.

Brad

einarak

This happened to me ones on my us aircore. had a rough landing first but thought everything was ok. Then on second fly the front wheel fell off, I landed successfully like Manks, just shut the engine right before i hit the runway to avoid braking the prop.

...i newer found the wheel

forktail devil

i lost my nose gear on my avistar, but it stayed connected by the pushrod. i brought it down same way manks did without any damage. i converted it to a taildragger after that. havent had any problems with it yet, and that was last summer or the summer before that, cant remember.

manks

I will keep this plane as a trike trainer, as I have another set up as a tail dragger already. What I have now done is put a second collar on the Nose Wheel, that should help. I will also spend more time doing preflights, checking every few flights on the Nose Wheel, ect.

Such is life, this will be my only trike plane, everything else is set up as a tail dragger.

waydown2low

A very easy way to fix both problems is to use a piece of fuel tubing and slide it over the axle or nose strut to keep the assembly together in one piece if the collar vibrates loose. The fuel tubing is not affected by vibration and hard landings like a collar, and is lighter as well. I use it on everything including my giant scale in side the wheel pants. It should also keep a nose strut from falling off if there is enough room above the firewall attachment. I lost a wheel about ten years ago on a friends four star forty and luckily ended with a perfect landing which was followed by a slow ground loop to the left, so tailwheel planes are as prone to this as anything else. If I would not have had a concrete runway, the gear might have been pulled off instead of just sliding to a stop. Glad your craft is okay and always remember loctite is your best friend on any metal to metal screw.

If you can't see it, don't hand me the controls!

Dr1Driver

OK, guys, I got a better one. True story.

I was flying my first 1/4 Fokker Dr.1 several years ago. I made a nice smooth takeoff roll and lifted off. Just as it broke ground, the left wheel fell off. FELL COMPLETELY OFF (and rolled merrily down the runway)!!! Instead of immediately cutting power and letting it settle back at just under flying speed, I reacted automatically and continued the climbout. (altitude is safety) Now I'm flying a 15 pound plane that has only one wheel and absolutely SO shock absorbsion on the landing gear struts. They're solid! I flew around a while, letting it burn off gas, composing what my approach should look like, and comtemplating a "tall grass" landing. I decided against the tall grass, figuring the rough ground would do more damage than the short grass runway. I brought it in on final on the runway, holding it just above stall speed, which made me VERY nervous. When this plane stalls, it's fast and wicked and it takes a LOT more altitude than I had to recover. Fortunately, I was on a grass strip. When it touched, the naked axle caught the grass and it ground-looped. It wasn't going very fast and there was only minor damage to the landing gear struts and an upper wingtip (when it flipped over). My preflights now include wheel collars!

DR.1

manks

I would much rather lose the nose gear than one of the mains. You lose a main, you know it will catch and spin the plane somehow. With the nose gone, and engine cut, the chances of dammage are much lower. I am with you on the preflight including gear, I never did it before, I will now.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I have used small piece of tubing works to keep clevis closed I'll have to add a piece to hold collars now too. thanks for the tip.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I had the nose gear turn on my F-20 this weekend. One of the other pilots commented after I landed that I was fighting a whole lot more crosswind than he thought was out there cause I had my rudder kicked over so hard to straighten the wheel.
Zero damage.

dirtmagnet

i somewhat had the same thing happen to me the other day. i was flying my Kougar and the nose wheel partially come off on take off but i started my take off role too close to the end of the runway to stop so i just pulled it verticle straight off the ground. i was too slow to do just a steady climb and i would tip stall but just enough speed to pull the nose off the ground and i have unlimited verticle so that wasn't a big deal. i just kept flying like nothing was wrong and when i get ready to land i just held just enough power to it so i could hold the nose off the ground. rolled a little bit down the runway and got as slow as i felt i could and pulled throttle back to an idle and then it slid to a stop on the nose. luckally i fly off of grass and had no damage to the plane and i just had to replace 3 out of 4 bolts in the nose. pretty much that is all you can do. if you can set one down and not have any damage that is a succesful landing.