My nose gear strut went completely flat last week while at KFMY. I had the on field shop look at it and repair - which they did. I received a call from them during the repair saying that they were having trouble getting the strut to now distend to a normal position. It was stuck fully extended. They said they would look at it 'tomorrow' which they did and were able to 'repair' it. On takeoff to return home I felt like a did a double take off - liftoff, return to runway and takeoff again. I felt like an idiot for doing that, but it happens... When I landed back home (3.5 hours later) the strut was fully extended again and not returning to normal position. In hind sight, I think the double take off was actually the nose gear extending to the runway after ground contact was lost...
So now my AP has taken over the project and has discovered that the strut is chewing itself apart from the inside as evidenced by metal/chrome shavings found in the strut (see photo). It will not collapse because it is digging in to itself and binding. They are looking for replacement struts - they have their resources but I am looking for plans B, C and D if they cannot find them. Does anyone know of resources for PA28-236 nose gear struts?
So now my AP has taken over the project and has discovered that the strut is chewing itself apart from the inside as evidenced by metal/chrome shavings found in the strut (see photo). It will not collapse because it is digging in to itself and binding. They are looking for replacement struts - they have their resources but I am looking for plans B, C and D if they cannot find them. Does anyone know of resources for PA28-236 nose gear struts?
