RH Bungee

[William Mattson]

This was the site my mechanic saw when he took off the inspection plate. Has anyone ever had this happen. The glob on the arm and pulley wheel in just grease clean off fine. We took the bungee out, both wheels turn easy and freely. I don't know how long this has been this way. The bungees were replaced at last annual by another mechanic. I failed to inspect the work at the time. My gear has been going up and down at the same speed all year.

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

William,
They can and do come off on occasion. Thus the requirement of AD 77-13-21 for the annual inspection of the bungees for condition and proper installation. The primary reason for the bungees to jump the arm pulley is the pulley does not turn and thus the bungee tries to slide and slides right off the edge. If your pulley turns as you indicated, the next most likely situation is that the bungee was installed incorrectly, or was rolled or twisted into the pulley. This can cause it to roll off when the gear goes up and down instead of staying on and just running along the pulley. The gear will operate without the bungees, but it does put much higher loads on the gear transmission as the primary reason for the bungees to be there is to counterbalance the weight of the gear going up, and to counter the air load of the slipstream during the last part of extension.

Zach