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Glen Davis, CFII, wrote: > I have a couple of reservations/suggestions regarding Ed's email Cool! I love thoughtful discussions, especially on subjects where some physical tests can determine the facts. >> Ed's suggestion: Soft field, you just hold the nose up as long >> as you can and keep the elevator up clear through taxiing. > > My comment: If you keep the elevator full back, you may > not have any steering ability (peddleless Coupes only) Glen, I think that even nose-gear-crippled (snubber cable) Coupes will find they don't have enough elevator authority to lift the nose gear off the pavement till they get to flying speed (rotation speed). I *think* there'd be enough weight on the nose gear to maintain steering. Let's amend that if there's a crosswind, you should not pull the nose so far up that you lose steering. I'd observe that the rudder surface area is so small that little steering can be done by rudder even on those planes with peddles. Can some people test this when they next go crosswind flying and let us know what they find? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Ed's suggestion: Soft field takeoff was just like our Cessnas >> - elevator full up to lighten the nose wheel and get lift quickly >> onto the wings. > > My comment: If you keep the elevator full up on your take-off > roll, you will have no steering ability for a while...the time > between the nose wheel lifting and the main wheels lifting. > If there is any crosswind, this could be a problem. Again, this > is assuming you are in a peddleless Coupe. The Cessnas I flew had, as I recall, a lot more elevator authority than any Coupe I ever flew. Have you seen problems, during actual take-offs, where you lost steering too early? Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com ed -at- edburkhead???.com (change -at- to @ and remove "???") ============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
