Gear door actuators

Todd Gessel · #1 07-30-09, 10:21 AM

Here's the additional photos.

It seems this is a rare situation. Any thoughts on why this failure would occur and how to prevent it other than using the gear door modification?

tropical · #2 07-30-09, 10:25 AM

Had this been worked on recently?

Todd Gessel · #3 07-30-09, 05:35 PM

New Cessna hydraulic hoses were installed in January. Since then, the aircraft had been flown approximately 60 hours.

Skymaster337B · #4 07-30-09, 11:49 PM

I'm not sure I see anything wrong with the snap ring. It looks like the actuator housing let loose. Very hard to believe.

JeffAxel · #5 07-31-09, 12:36 AM

Those snap rings can be put in 2 ways, and only one way is correct. One edge is slightly beveled, the other is sharp. The proper way to put them in is with the sharp side out, it grabs the groove better. Do it backwards and you see the results. It is amazing how many mechanics don't know this. The newer actuators with screwed in end fittings were installed in mid '78 model year P-Skymasters ( P3370298 and on), I am not sure if or when they put them in other models. The good news is you can use the newer actuators in place of the older ones if you can find them, at least in the P models. My guess is that this is true for all 1973 and later models, but I only have documentation for the P Skymaster. You could check with Cessna, or Tom Carr at CPA. Hope this helps.

JeffAxel · #6 07-31-09, 12:47 AM

Another thought, probably a good idea to not reuse the snap rings here. New ones are cheap, and better economy it seems in this case. The snap ring that failed looks pretty worn to me. This is something that can be inspected at annual, I will add it to my list of stuff to put an extra critical eye on.....thanks for sharing, and I hope you get repaired and back in the air.

Todd Gessel · #7 07-31-09, 10:46 AM

Thanks! That is exactly the information I was looking for on the screw-in end fitting. I really appreciate the help.