REFLECTOR: fixed gear nose wheel

[Geoff Gerhardt]

I have an RG and have never experienced a shimmy (~80hrs).  I noticed that
I was having a difficult time steering when taxiing and found that my nose
gear pivot had tightened up (due to the cold winter temps, maybe?).
 Anyway, I loosened it to the 10lbs needed to move the wheel (used a fish
scale).  Taxiing is still a bit tough, but not too bad.

I assume that the shimmy is mostly an FG issue, as an RG front wheel always
comes down aligned with the runway.

On my last flight, tho, I heard a air whooshing noise from the front of the
plane all of a sudden.  On landing, I found that one of the struts that
keeps the front nose gear had come loose (the little threaded ball that it
snaps into had come unscrewed from the shaft that connects to the
cylinder).  Just waiting for a replacement so I can fly again.

Geoff

On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 10:05 AM, Dennis King <kitfox94 at comcast.net> wrote:

> Adding a fin to the nose wheel fairing would make the fairing act like a
> bigger rudder and might cause a worse yaw problem after takeoff with a
> cocked wheel.  You would have to be able to straighten the nose with the
> rudders before the fin would be able to overcome the friction washer
> adjustment to straighten the wheel.  If the friction adjustment was too
> tight, you might not have enough rudder authority to straighten things out.
>  Unfortunately, all of this would be going on right after takeoff, so
> things could get dicey.  Be careful!
>
> Dennis King
>
> ------------------------------
> *From: *"David Ullman" <ullman at robustdecisions.com>
> *To: *reflector at tvbf.org
> *Sent: *Sunday, March 17, 2013 9:05:14 AM
> *Subject: *Re: REFLECTOR: fixed gear nose wheel
>
> I have an SEFG and don't have much of a shimmy problem.  Seems to come and
> go, and is never very bad.  But, a bigger issue occurred last summer.  I
> had
> the front faring on and I took off.  The plane had a bad yaw that I had not
> experienced before.  I checked and all the controls were working as they
> should.  I figured that somehow the front wheel was cocked and acting as a
> front rudder.  I landed and sure enough, when the front wheel touched down,
> I felt a jerk, like the wheel aligning.  I taxied back to the hangar and
> found the back half of the front faring was missing.  The jerk of the wheel
> aligning had whipped the fairing so hard that it literally tore off.   This
> confirmed what happened in flight, I must have skipped to the side just as
> I
> lifted off and the friction was enough to hold the misalignment in place.
>  I
> started a search of the airport area for the faring half when I guy pulled
> up in truck with a "is this yours?".  It was on the runway, luckily he
> landed right after me, saw it depart my plane and was able to land around
> it
> and go back and pick it up.
>
> I want to put the front faring back on, but don't want to experience this
> again. I think my friction is about right as I can easily steer when
> taxiing
> and don't have much shimmy.  First question: anybody else ever experience
> this?  Second question: I am thinking of putting a rudder on the back half
> of the faring.  This should give enough aero force aft of the pivot to make
> it weather vane should I knock it off center again.  It may also add a
> little shimmy damping.  I would have to beef the connection of the rear
> half
> to the wheel.  It should look cool too.  Has anyone tried this?
>
> David Ullman
> N444DX
> President EAA 292
> 541-754-3609
> david at davidullman.com
>
>
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