RE: Opinions on Century Jet Gears
About two months ago, I came to this thread with a problem. My Century Jet Rotating Retracts that were installed in my Giant Scale Planes P-40 had been a problem since I received them. On my second flight, after a bounce, the gear twisted and the struts were bent. I sent them badck for repair, and about three flight later, after a normal landing, the model swerved badly on roll out, and a gear strut on the outside of the swerve bent again. I was having problems setting the toe-in, since the struts were so loose they would not hold the setting. This resulted in squirlly take-offs, and unpredictable rollouts on landings. I was planning to make a post requesting suggestions on how to correct my issues. I had already sent the gear back twice, and still had the problem.
I noticed Bruce Saunders post regarding their upgrades to the gear, and his offer to replace the pop rivits with screws and upgrade the older gear. Rather than post a negative comment, I contacted Bruce with my problems and concerns. He followed up on his offer to replace the pop rivits and correct my problems. I sent him my retracts.
I didn't hear anything for about ten days so I sent him an email requesting information. Bruce sent me back an email with photos of my gear showing me the damage (probably caused by the first bad bounced landing) that was causing the slop in my gear. The fork, which was aluminum, had opened up, and the frame itself had some issues as well. He offered to replace the entire top of the gear for what I considered a fair price and included a free service policy.
The gear came back with a new frame, new cylinders, and the trunion, which had been aluminum, was now steel. I have now put more flights on my P-40 since I received my upgraded gear, than in the entire previous three years. The previous problems I had have been resolved,
The steel trunion holds a positive downlock. If you have the old rotating retracts with the aluminum trunion, and the forks (the slot the brass pin from the cylinder moves in) has stretched open, the gear can move fore and aft, which allows it to turn slightly. This allowed the gear to twist during takeoff and landing resulting in swerves and bent struts. I think the upgrades have taken care of that problem.
Bottom line? If you have older Century Jet retracts, and have a problem, give Bruce and company a chance to correct them. I'm sure glad I did. This is an unsolicited comment from a satisfied customer.
Dash