Fixing gear on a Grob 103

[Charles Longley]

My club is considering fixing the gear down on our 103. I know some other clubs have done this. Does anyone know how it was done and what paperwork was involved?

[[email protected]]

There were about seven variants of the G-103 (Twin II, Twin III, Acro models etc.) To my knowledge, all are fixed gear with the exception of the Twin Astir, which has an unusual sideways folding main wheel. If this is what you have, I suggest you contact Robert Mudd at Composite Aircraft Repair in Moriarty, NM. (There is an ad in the back of Soaring Magazine.) Robert is out of the country at present, so a response may not be immediately forthcoming.

[Michael Opitz]

At 02:13 08 April 2017, Charles Longley wrote:
>My club is considering fixing the gear down on our 103. I know some
other
>clubs have done this. Does anyone know how it was done and what
paperwork
>was involved?
>
I suggest that you contact LTB Lindner in Germany. They have bought
all of the patents, rights, spare parts, molds, etc for the Grob glider
line, and they provide "de facto" factory maintenance support. They
are quite good with quick responses to email inquiries:

http://www.ltb-lindner.com/grob-saleplanes.html

RO

[Bob Kuykendall]

On Friday, April 7, 2017 at 7:13:53 PM UTC-7, Charles Longley wrote:

> ...I know some other clubs have done this.

I'd suggest contacting those clubs.

[Frank Whiteley]

On Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 9:15:06 AM UTC-6, Michael Opitz wrote:
> At 02:13 08 April 2017, Charles Longley wrote:
> >My club is considering fixing the gear down on our 103. I know some
> other
> >clubs have done this. Does anyone know how it was done and what
> paperwork
> >was involved?
> >
> I suggest that you contact LTB Lindner in Germany. They have bought
> all of the patents, rights, spare parts, molds, etc for the Grob glider
> line, and they provide "de facto" factory maintenance support. They
> are quite good with quick responses to email inquiries:
>
> http://www.ltb-lindner.com/grob-saleplanes.html
>
> RO

I'll second that.

No idea what the market or expense would be, but Lindner might find some willing customers with a fixed gear replacement conversion for the Twin Astir retracts. Perhaps it could be offered as a TN. At least some clubs would be more willing to use them in training. Only about 25 of the Twin T models were produced originally IIRC.

Frank Whiteley

[Charles Longley]

I contacted Robert. He's in Europe but said he would try and express the part we need. We've decided to keep the retractable system operative. It's kind of a kludge but I think if we can keep after the maintenance it'll be OK.. Seems to be quite a penalty if you fix the gear down.