LORD Develops Fluid-Free Shimmy Damper for the Piper Aircraft

June 17, 2014
This product, LORD Part Number SE-1508-1, will be available to the market in July 2014.

(Cary, N.C. – June 17, 2014) – LORD Corporation – a leader in the management of vibration, noise and motion control – has developed a fluid-free shimmy damper for the Piper PA-28/32 aircraft. 

This product, LORD Part Number SE-1508-1, will be available to the market in July 2014.

The LORD® Fluid-Free Shimmy Damper offers consistent damping in a maintenance-free design and uses surface-effect technology to dramatically reduce nose wheel shimmy. LORD has replaced the hydraulic piston in the traditional damper with a fully-bonded elastomeric piston that provides three types of damping over a wide range of conditions. Since there is no hydraulic fluid to leak out, there is no need to service the damper.

Accelerated life testing of the LORD Shimmy Damper has demonstrated that it provides targeted damping after over 5,000 ground-air-ground duty cycles. This represents a product life of more than 10 years of usage on a typical high-use aircraft.

According to Sue Cermak, Distribution Manager, LORD Aerospace & Defense Business Unit, LORD developed this damper as an aftermarket solution to replace the industry’s hydraulic damper that is prone to leak. 

“What makes this technology unique is that it doesn’t contain fluid,” said Cermak. “Therefore, there is no maintenance associated with the part. Just a few drops of fluid leakage can cut the performance of a traditional hydraulic damper in half. With the LORD Shimmy Damper, force and energy dissipation is consistent over time and over a wide range of temperatures.”

LORD Corporation’s shimmy damper technology has been successfully used in aircraft for more than 15 years and is currently being used on the Baron/Bonanza, the Cardinal, the Skylane, and the Caravan.

LORD offers a five-year, pro-rated warranty on the Piper Shimmy Damper. For more information, please contact LORD Technical Support at 1-877-ASK-LORD.

About LORD Corporation

LORD Corporation is a diversified technology and manufacturing company developing highly reliable adhesives, coatings, motion management devices, and sensing technologies that significantly reduce risk and improve product performance. For 90 years, LORD has worked in collaboration with our customers to provide innovative aerospace, defense, automotive and industrial solutions. With world headquarters in Cary, N.C. and 2013 revenues in excess of $880 million, LORD has more than 3,000 employees in 26 countries and operates 16 manufacturing facilities and eight R&D centers worldwide. LORD actively promotes STEM education and many other community engagement initiatives. For more information, visit http://www.lord.com.