Take note-part failure

[Jim Smith]

I recently had a failure on the bracket that holds the nose gear steering bungee in place. It is located inside the cockpit behind the center console where the factory auto pilot control is. The bracket is a three piece aluminum frame that is riveted together as one piece, and then riveted to the airframe. There is a bolt that goes through this and the bungee end. One side of the bracket frame failed with the bolt tearing through the metal and allowing the bungee to over-extend and bend the other side of the bracket from the torque of the spring loaded bungee. I noticed this while taxiing and hitting a rough area on the taxiway, and then had a lot of play in the pedals. I believe hitting that spot on the taxiway accelerated the failure which was actually a good thing. Upon inspection it appeared this had been going on for some time as the hole was elongated and showed other signs of wear from the bungee end moving back and forth in the bracket before it finally failed from metal fatigue. The rudders still operated as they should however it sounded like there was excessive movement in the cables as I could hear them moving inside the airframe. This is a well maintained '69 turbo with only 2600 hours on the airframe which seems kind of early for this type of failure. My point in all this is, upon searching for a used replacement part, I located a parts plane but the bracket was not usable as it too had elongated holes where the bolt for the bungee goes through. I wouldn't be surprised if this bracket is the same for all models prior to 1971, and could affect later models as well. I would recommend having your mechanic inspect this on your next annual (or sooner) as this may be a common problem. If the nose gear is straight with no tension on the bungee, the bolt can easily be removed from the bungee bracket and an inspection performed for signs of wear.