LORD Corporation's single-engine nose wheel shimmy damper has been added to Cessna Aircraft Company's offerings as original equipment on several new applications.  

The nose wheel shimmy damper replaces the original equipment shimmy damper on Cessna's 150, 152, 172, 182, 206, 207, 208 and 210 aircraft. 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. Since the damper contains no fluid, it cannot leak and is expected to last 10 years without service.  

According to Peter Wilkinson, vice president of Cessna Parts Distribution, it simply made sense to add this technology to Cessna's offerings.   

"LORD Corporation's shimmy damper is fully consistent with Cessna's make/buy strategy and it has been proven to reduce maintenance and lower direct operating costs," said Wilkinson. "We appreciate having industry partners like LORD to assist us with providing high quality products and features for Cessna customers."  

Development of the Surface-Effect technology for shimmy damper applications involved several steps. LORD began with an evaluation of the current hydraulic dampers in field tests and in the laboratory. The next step was leveraging their more than 10 years of experience with Surface Effect for industrial applications and measuring shimmy events with the standard dampers to establish a design target. Extensive development tests validated the design and durability of the dampers in the laboratory. Then field tests were conducted to verify the design effectiveness in short-term tests. Finally, a year-long trial launch involving a number of aircraft provided assurance that the design was robust and durable.  

Typical dampers utilize fluids to resist motion, but a mere 10 to 20 drops of leakage has been shown to cut performance in half. Instead of using fluids to resist motion, LORD Corporation's shimmy damper features a unique rubber formulation with a high-tech lubricant to absorb nose wheel vibration. Essentially, the metal piston found in the traditional damper has been replaced with a rubber piston that presses against the inner diameter of the damper housing. This rubber piston then rides on a very thin film of grease and the rubbing action between the piston and the housing provides the necessary damping. Due to its Surface Effect design, the shimmy damper's force and energy dissipation can be precisely controlled over time and within a wide range of temperatures. The resulting damping is effective over a temperature range from -30 to 150-degrees-Fahrenheit.  

Accelerated life testing of the LORD shimmy damper demonstrates that it performs in excess of 5,000 ground-air-ground duty cycles. This represents a product life of more than 10 years of usage on a typical, high-use, single-engine piston airplane.  

The Cessna approved shimmy damper is available through the worldwide authorized Cessna Service Station and Distributor network. To find the closest Authorized facility visit www.cpdxpress.com, click "PROPELLER" and "AFS Authorized Facility Search."