Hi Prof., all...
The damage from turning the nose wheel too far will not be to the fork
(nose
wheel support, double or single).
Such damage will be to the steering collar or steering ball on the nose
strut,
to the control stops at the top of the control column, or to the rudder
structure.
And, yes, it is easily caused with a tow bar in the pilot's hand if
applied
without reasonable finesse.
Even when the Ercoupe is manhandled by the prop backward into tight
quarters the rudders can be "whipped" against their control limits and
the
"weakest link" back there can be the structural connection between the
inner
structure the horn mounts on and the rest of the inner structure.
If you can move the rudder left and right with your hand and there are
crinkeling
noises or the part where the horn mouonts doesn't move quite with the
rest, you
have damage there that should be repaired. That's why there has been a
series
of Ercoupe Service Bulletins to strengthen the production rudder
structure after
problems surfaced in the field.
Regards,
William R. Bayne
.____|-(o)-|____.
(Copyright 2009)
--
On Feb 2, 2009, at 16:52, [email protected] wrote:
Hi Carl,
I don't know the max turning radius
to prevent damage to the fork.
What I'm going to do is:
• Have my son hold the tail down while I.....
• Move the yoke Left and Right.
• Put a chalk line on the hangar floor for each yoke full deflection.
• Then measure the angle,
• O.K. I haven't worked out the next step,
I have to think this out a bit further.
Prof. Ed
