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DART Aerospace has been known to offer full-length wearplates designed specifically to prevent premature damage to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) skidtubes on a variety of aircraft models.
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) owns a fleet of Bell 429 helicopters that operate in some of the most demanding, challenging and severe operational and environmental conditions and therefore, cannot afford any downtime for skidtube replacements.
The 429 skidtubes presently offered on the market are delivered with partial protection and leave large areas unprotected and subject to damage. To avoid this possible damage to its landing gear, Transport Canada, the entity maintaining the CCG’s helicopter fleet, turned to DART Aerospace, a leader in aftermarket landing gear, for an ideal solution.
DART responded by creating full-length wearplates designed specifically to address Transport Canada’s needs. These wearplates are composed of wearpads with tungsten-carbide welds and full-length stainless steel wearplates compatible with OEM skidtubes.
To prevent corrosion, the wearplates have a “Rockguard-type” rubber inner finish that eliminates gaskets for ease of installation. No drilling is required as DART wearplates use the existing Bell OEM wearpad inserts and fasteners and include additional clamps to secure the installation.
