Back in the mid-late 60s (1967?), my father had one of the first Diamants in the U.S., a 15 Meter HBV model (with the Libelle 301 wings). The gear collapsed one day when it was about 6 months old for no apparent reason. He and his partners flew it a few times with the gear locked down using a hose clamp secured around one of the actuators (can't recall details). Functional but noisy and not very elegant (not far removed from not flying it at all)..

It wasn't until the factory rep arrived (IIRC, Fred Jiran in what may have been his first visit here) to do some factory mandated mods that he discovered the landing gear frame had gotten bent slightly in a ground loop. The downlock activated by folding the gear retract handle against the wall of the cockpit was no longer engaging. Most times the legs being over center was sufficient to keep the gear down...but not always.

Chip Bearden