Landing Gear Webinar

Tonight I decided to check into the American Bonanza Society (ABS) Bonanza / Baron Landing Gear Systems and Maintenance Webinar. While I no longer have the Debonair, I do want to keep current on maintenance of the systems.  You never know, maybe there will be another Deb or Bo in my future.

The webinar was hosted by Tom Turner of the ABS Air Safety Foundation and the keynote speaker was Bob Ripley, Senior ABS Technical Advisor - ABS Air Safety Foundation. 

The topics for tonight's presentation.

Landing gear inspection
The importance of proper rigging
The manual gear extension hand crank
Landing gear maintenance

The webinar gave a good look at the internals of the gear motor and Bob provided his expertise on the unit and inspection process.

The discussion also detailed the inspection process dealing with tensions and clearances. Excellent information and reference for the annual inspection process.


correct position

trapped behind cover

The one critical take-away was in the pre-flight process.  Now I'll preface this with the statement that I was the last person to stow the manual crank handle and cover it. However, Bob insisted that each preflight should be a physical check that the manual hand crank can be unstowed properly prior to start. If you can't unstow the crank, DON'T fly the airplane.

When I did my transition training the owner walked me through a very extensive pre-flight process. I was happy to see that what I inspected was what the webinar detailed. This is a glimpse of the POH preflight check, note 7a. The nose and right main gear didn't provide much more.

7. LEFT LANDING GEAR:

a. Wheel Well Door, Tire and Strut - CHECK

b. Fuel Vent - CHECK
c. Fuel Sump{s) - DRAIN
d. Fuel Selector Valve Sump and Auxiliary Fuel Cell

 
This was my typical inspection for each gear.
 

• Uplock springs
• Check uplock springs for corrosion
• Check spring attach points for elongation or corrosion
• Check Spring for consistent coil gaps
• Uplock cable
• Check uplock cable for fraying
• Check to make sure cable cover is secure
• Roller bearing
• Check roller bearings rotate freely
• Check uplock cover
• Check Tire
• Check Wheel well doors
• Check strut

roller bearing

uplock cable

uplock cover