Thought the A2A sim community would appreciate this RW preflight issue

[Oracle427]

On my last flight, the landing to be specific, I noticed that the steering seemed a bit "off". I figured it was just the stronger than usual crosswind because everything was fine taxiing back to the hangar.

This weekend I went to do some flying and did my usual preflight inspections and discovered a missing cotter pin and a castle nut that was seriously backed off on my nosewheel. The nut attaches the steering torque tube to a collar that wraps around the strut that turns the nosewheel. Had that nut come off I would have lost my connection from the rudder pedals to the nosegear. It also may have caused all sorts of havoc if the nut fell off during gear retraction or extension.

Keep doing your preflight checks and thanks to the A2A team for teaching everyone good habits!

I didn't take a photo of the part about to come off, this is after it was tightened up and a new cotter pin installed.

http://photos.app.goo.gl/RpcS2UWzX5QAocRN6

[DHenriques_]

On my last flight, the landing to be specific, I noticed that the steering seemed a bit "off". I figured it was just the stronger than usual crosswind because everything was fine taxiing back to the hangar.

This weekend I went to do some flying and did my usual preflight inspections and discovered a missing cotter pin and a castle nut that was seriously backed off on my nosewheel. The nut attached the steering torque tube to a collar that wraps around the strut that turns the nosewheel. Had that nut come off I would have lost my connection from the rudder pedals to the nose gear. It also may have caused all sorts of havoc if the nut fell off during gear retraction or extension.

Keep doing your preflight checks and thanks to the A2A team for teaching everyone good habits!

I didn't take a photo of the part about to come off, this is after it was tightened up and a new cotter pin installed.

http://photos.app.goo.gl/RpcS2UWzX5QAocRN6

Excellent call! That one is VERY easy to miss. In fact, the average pilot doing an "average" preflight
might never have seen it.
DH