fatigue crack on MLG extrusion

[Papa November]

Hi all,

While doing the 3-years check of my 1987 Long EZ, I have discovered a fatigue crack on the right rear MLG extrusion, cutting through from the rudder cable passage outward, as shown on the attached picture. I first thought that I would just need to build a new extrusion, or order one from Cozy Girls, but it appears the extrusion is floxed to the fuselage side, and therefore cannot be removed.

Any thought? Does it need immediate repair or can it just be left like that with some surveillance? If repair needed, what would be a convenient solution? Beefing up? welding?

Thanks for your input...

 

-PN.

 

 

[Kent Ashton]

A common problem.  It is no longer advised to drill that hole through the part for that reason.  You should probably replace it.  It will come off.  Flox does not really bond to aluminum so a sharp blow with a hammer should pop it off.  Use the old part to drill the mount holes through the new part.  The problem is discussed in the old Canard Pusher newsletters--maybe it was in one of the Cozy III newsletters (they use the same mount)  but I don't recall where.

The Canard pusher newsletters are here in both PDF and text-search format http://www.cozybuilders.org/Canard_Pusher/

The Cozy III newsletters are here  http://www.cozybuilders.org/newsletters/

Also before you remove the landing gear, check for any looseness of the mount extrusions or in the bolts through the side of the fuselage by trying to move the strut back and forth.  That's another problem and it would be a good time to find it.

Here is one being repaired.  It's not a small job but maybe you will only need to replace the one extrustion.   http://v2.ez.org/gear_repair.htm

Marc has a picture of the big repair here   https://www.burnsideaerospace.com/gallery-of-work/se13mgvlysfnywy8samui15g37yxvp

Edited April 28, 2020 by Kent Ashton

[Papa November]

Thanks Kent. I had a closer look today, and found out that the crack is making its way on the other side, to the lightening hole, but has not made it all the way through. I hope I can fly it until next winter, when a long stop at the pit will be needed.

[Marc Zeitlin]

9 hours ago, Papa November said:

Thanks Kent. I had a closer look today, and found out that the crack is making its way on the other side, to the lightening hole, but has not made it all the way through. I hope I can fly it until next winter, when a long stop at the pit will be needed.

Were you to bring that plane to me for a Condition Inspection and we found that crack in the bracket, there is no way I would sign off the CI, which says that the aircraft is "In a Condition for Safe Flight". Were I to see that crack on a Pre-Buy examination, I'd tell the buyer not to purchase the plane until it was fixed, or ensure that the plane was trucked to a place where it could be fixed. I'd tell the seller not to fly the plane until it was fixed - maybe ONE flight to the place of repair, but that's it.

Landing gear collapse, which is what a failure of that bracket could lead to (however unlikely it may be, and given the crack, it's not ALL that unlikely) can be a catastrophic event. Land hard, hit a small pothole, etc...