Well i made up an adjustable length nose gear mechanism. The idea was to lengthen the nose leg to increase wing angle of attack for an easier take off and reduce it again for landing to hold the nose down on the rough grass. Tried it out yesterday and worked well, take off was lighter on the elevator and on landing the nose stuck to the ground. It operates from a double acting pheumatic cylinder and when pressurized up, the mechanism goes over center to take all load off it, and when down ithe mechanism stops on itself again taking the load off.
I did find that the last time i flew, my hydrulic damper i made and fitted inside the leg, had in fact leaked, which was why there was a nose gear bounce in my last video. I repaired the unit and changed the oil to a lighter oil and it performed brilliantly yesterday. I think this helped a great deal as well.
With the leg in shortened mode, the mechanism still allows full use of the suspension. I did find that due to the geometry, the front of the apex links almost touch the ground when the suspension is fully bottomed out, so i restricted its movement for the test flight slightly to prevent it digging in. Will need a slight rethink
Wind was full on 90 degrees and really rough, a credit to plane yet again.
Nose gear light was great in the not so bright sky, but smoke system was not impressive, i think due to the strong winds disipating it really quickly.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtVwtlhCXrE
Internet just crashed so lost the upload to youtube to see the landing, will post later, cheers Tim
here you go
www.youtube.com/v/Na5KCel94yg