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While I know that many folks have designed and fabricated their own electric NG systems, the vast majority of canardians have not and do not have the facility to do so. Nor have the folks that have done so made their systems widely available.

My goal was to create a system that minimized both mechanical modifications to the F-22 and NG-30 structures, allowing for simple retrofit into existing manual or electrical nose gear retract system installations and minimizing the changes to the design for new builds. I believe that I've achieved that, as I was able to retrofit MY COZY MKIV, which started with a stock manual system and then had an EZNoselift (classic) system for about 20 years, in a few days with this new system.

The system uses an OTS (Off The Shelf) electric actuator with integral adjustable limit switches, new NG-30 side attachment plates and spacers and a new actuator mounting block. It fits completely forward of the F-22 bulkhead and in between the outer surfaces of the NG-30s, requiring no F-22 mods or hole. It also requires no modification to the two or three side plate mounting holes in the NG-30s. It does require replacement of the existing NG-3/NG-4 brackets, if you're going to re-use your existing nose gear strut rather than fabricate a whole new nose gear strut assembly.

A CAD image of the new system is shown here:

Pros:

• OTS Actuator - no actuator modifications required or performed, therefore no weak points from machining or welding as with existing actuator systems.
  
  
• No Spring Cartridge - the origin history of the spring cartridge used with manual and electric actuation systems is unknown to me but in my opinion the spring cartridge causes far more problems than it solves (if it solved any). Removing the spring allows for hard braking on short runways or in emergency situations without the danger of nose gear steering axis angle inversion and extreme shimmy. Removal also eliminates the "porpoising" action of the nose of these aircraft when taxiing over bumps or dips, which can find resonance and lead to tipback or prop strikes, aside from merely being annoying and scary to passengers.
  
  There are numerous examples of aircraft with the original VE manual gear, - the ones that Ryszard Zadow recently mentioned on the COBA list, as well as Mehran Salamati in his Berkut(s), along with others who've operated safely for many years with no spring cartridges.
  
  
• Limit switch adjustment - adjusting the limit switches in the OTS actuator is very simple and the switches are protected with no connectors between them and the actuator itself.
  
  
• Weight - approximately the same weight as existing electric actuation systems
  
  
• Cost - final cost will be dependent upon quantity of units purchased, but is almost guaranteed to be equal to or lower than existing, available nose gear retraction systems.
  
  
• Eliminated Issues - 
  • Loose/bent side plate attachment bolts
  • Wobbling extension shaft due to poor welding alignment of ball screw shaft
  • Grinding of bottom of actuator to clear NG-4 interior surface
  • Wallowing of NG-3/4 mounting holes due to using bolt as the bearing member
  • Plastic drive gear breakage
  • Poor support

Cons:

• No Spring Cartridge - if you believe that the spring cartridge allows for taxiing on rougher ground without breakage, then this would be a "con", but that's not a belief to which I subscribe, so for me, this is NOT a "con".
  
  
• No Mechanical Extension - as with most (if not all) of the currently available nose gear systems, no manual extension crank is possible - only an electric backup in the case of aircraft electrical system failure is possible.
  
  
• 1,500 lb. Load Limit - Currently available (and previous) systems which used the Thomson Saginaw Ball Screw mechanism had a maximum load capability of approximately 3,000 lb. This was required to lift a MGW, forward CG COZY MKIV from a grazing position to a fully extended position (bumper on the ground is the worst case load). Without major modifications to F-22 I was not able to fit an electric actuator that had a 3,000 lb. load capability, and I was not willing to force holes or modifications to F-22.
  
  With the new system's 1,500 load capacity, you will be required to lift the nose to 18" - 24" off the ground before loading the front seat (the amount of load will determine required height - these #'s are approximate).
  
  Since raising a fully loaded aircraft from the ground is contraindicated due to the fact that the NG-1 strut was not designed for such loading, I believe that the advantage of not having to modify the aircraft structure outweighs the disadvantage of having to raise the nose prior to front seat loading.
  
  (As an aside, electro-hydraulic actuators that DO fit forward of F-22 are available with 3,000 lb load capabilities, but they can draw upwards of 40A and would require major, heavy electrical modifications to make them work. This MAY be an option in the future, if folks believe that the nose height loading restrictions are onerous - I do not. There would also be a 14 week lead time for procurement and then a month of testing, after another month of design, so would be delayed substantially over the electric actuator).

These are parts required for mounting the new actuator, and would be provided with the actuator "kit".

For many years, many of us have been concerned about both the quality of the current nose gear parts that are available to the community, as well as the availability of these parts to the community moving forward. I procrastinated doing anything about it, though, hoping that other vendors would begin shipping parts again and replace the existing poor quality parts with higher quality parts. But that hasn't happened, nor has anyone else (other than Nate Mullins at 3:23 Composites) provided any new nose gear components. 

While I know that EZJets is working on an electro-hydraulic nose gear system, my understanding (and someone can correct me if I'm mistaken) is that one has to have EZJets perform the installation of this system. Other than that, I know nothing about it.

Alan Thayer's catastrophic EZNoselift failure in September, 2023, which resulted in $25K worth of aircraft repairs, prompted me to start the design, testing and fabrication process of new systems. The EZNoselift Side Bolt Clamp system, which approximately 80 of you have purchased and installed, was the first step in that process - make existing installations as safe as possible by correcting known failure modes.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rMJIQisEFLaIl3FPSzKRr4XMNvXrHdL6&usp=drive_fs