Paul,

Why didn't you just say so in the first place. I've been flying that plane you showed in your picture for the past couple years now. The nose gear works fine. You can bend anything if you smack the ground hard enough. That strut is a tough unit, it can take some abuse. If it does bend, well bend it back, and go fly again.

FYI, you should always have spare landing gear parts in your field box. You'll damage those components more than any other part of a plane over a course of time.