If you find yourself at AirVenture, wandering around the Van’s Aircraft booth, make sure to take a look at the fuselage they have tucked around the back corner. Right there on the nose you’ll see the latest design to come out of the Van’s engineering – the new nose gear for the RV-7A and -9A. Based on the design used for the RV-10 and RV-14, the updated hardware features a hinged gear leg and a rubber donut shock absorber.
Van’s traditional nose gear leg simply slotted into a socket on the engine mount, and depended on the flexibility and springiness of the strut itself to absorb nose gear loads and runway roughness.
The new gear design has been extensively drop tested by the engineering department at Van’s Oregon facility, and meets or exceeds the standards set for Part 23 (certified) aircraft.
