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Bent nose gear fork repair Davis DA-2A

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LukeH

New Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
3
Location
Tucson
Hi all,

New here, haven't built my own plane but want to someday. I fly a Davis DA-2A that I bought a few weeks ago.

Not exactly a "sheet metal" question but this is the most appropriate forum I could find.

I have flown my plane about a dozen times, put about 20 hours on it. I really enjoy it and it has been serving well. Unfortunately, the other day I bounced while landing in a crosswind and I had a boot-ful of rudder (and therefore, nosewheel deflection) in at the moment the nose wheel touched. As a result, the nose gear fork sustained some side loads and got bent out of shape, so now the tire rubs against the side of the fork. It is not so bad that I couldn't taxi clear, but obviously no good for flying now until I can get it repaired.

I'll inspect the other gear and everything firewall forward, since I know the nose strut goes up into the engine mounts, but it was not a hard landing and as far as I can tell the damage is limited to the nose wheel fork. I think the tire might even still be ok - it got scuffed on one side where it rubbed on the fork, but seems to be in decent shape. I was not the builder nor do I have a copy of the plans, but I am pretty sure the fork is steel - a magnet will stick to it. I had an A&P come look at it today and he's brainstorming some options and will get back to me.

Any advice is welcome. Would a steel nose wheel fork be safe to bend back into the correct shape? Am I better off fabricating a new one? It looks like the fork is welded to the strut and is of relatively simple construction. In the meantime I will work on uploading a photo.

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to participating on the forum.
 
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