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LORD Shimmy Damper Design Reduces Maintenance and Operation Costs for Cessna Aircraft Owners

Customer
Cessna Aircraft Company.

Challenge
LORD Corporation’s task was to design and manufacture a nose wheel shimmy damper to replace the original equipment on the Cessna 150, 152 and most 172 aircraft. The goals for the new shimmy damper included lowering direct operation costs and reducing maintenance.

Solution
Utilizing LORD Corporation’s patented surface-effect technology, the damper – sporting the same form, fit and function as the original Cessna damper – provides consistent damping without maintenance or the use of hydraulic fluid.

Result
Because the damper solution is fluidless, it cannot leak and will last 10 years without service. The resulting damping is effective over a temperature range from -30°-150°F (34°-66°C). Accelerated life testing of the LORD shimmy damper demonstrates it performs in excess of 5,000 ground-air-ground duty cycles, representing a product life of more than 10 years of usage on a typical, high-use, single-engine piston airplane.