WD-1201 Nose Gear Leg Replacement Program Published

Flyer/builder/owners of Van's thrifty little RV-12 have a Service Bulletin to look over.

Van's noted that, "An RV-12 training aircraft with more than 1700 hours of accumulated flight time recently experienced a nose gear fatigue failure. This is the only reported instance; no other fatigue-related nose gear failures have been reported. The failure occurred in the nose gear leg at the point where the leg tube meets the lower attachment bracket, and was caused by a fatigue crack that propagated across the tube. The crack occurred at a location that is not visually inspectable. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that owners of RV-12/RV-12iS aircraft with the original style nose gear leg (WD-1201) replace that part with the available updated, reinforced leg - part number WD-1201-1."

The SB applies only to original WD-1201 legs, which were shipped prior to June 10th, 2019. If you have received a WD-1201-1 gear leg since that time either with your kit or as a backorder item, it is not affected. They add that, "...In addition, only if your RV-12 or RV-12iS is currently under construction, and you received your finishing kit prior to June 10, 2019, and you have not yet completed the following steps in your plans, please contact Van’s Aircraft to order a replacement gear leg rather than ordering the retrofit."

FMI: www.vansaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SB-19-08-26-Nose-Gear-Replacement.pdf