I have to agree with Bill and Ed.
After I removed the snubber cable on my Coupe I could feel the difference in landing characteristics pretty good. The nose comes down soft and gentle. Of course you can do that with snubber cable as well, if you are a good pilot. But while the snubber cable pilot is still holding the nose off in a cross wind, his plane waethervaning, am I already steering down the runway. That is the difference. More dampening of the airframe and more steering authority. Together with the fairing , it makes a streamlined front strut. I see sometimes Ercoupes with a nose gear fairing AND a snubber cable. This is the worst combination. If you have a fairing, remove the cable. The fairing is an air brake when not flush with the strut. However. Those that are in doubt, give it at least a try and fly without. The first landing might feel weird because the wheel contacts so early, but after the next landing you won't wanne miss that extra control you gained. Hartmut N3330H - no snubber cable http://www.ercoupe.info To: [email protected]; [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 12:28:57 -0600 Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Ercoupe Nose Gear Info I’ll agree with everything Bill said, below. It matches what I’ve learned over the years from other sources. Snubber cable advocates claim: The nose gear structure is flawed and, without the snubber cable, the nose gear could fall off the airplane in flight. I’ve never been able to find documentation of this ever happening. Besides, the sissors assembly would prevent the nose gear from falling off. The nose gear is 1.5” too long with the double fork gear and the nose gear shouldn’t touch ground till after the aircraft has rotated to line up with the direction of motion, they say. The original design of the Coupe’s landing gear had the nose gear extended way down. By the time the main gear has taken weight, the nose gear will, almost always, be touching the ground. Since the nose gear **turns**, it will line up with the direction of motion and won’t provide side loads. The plane still rotates to line up with the direction of motion and steering is available immediately after the instant crab-to-straight rotation. I can’t see that having the nose gear 1.5” longer upsets this significantly. Most of all, I cite the proper authority for advocating that snubber cables be removed. Fred Weick himself told me they shouldn’t be on the plane. Fred followed up by saying that, with the full extension of the nose gear, with the rubber bumper installed and the fairing on the scissors to fair the nose gear tube, their careful testing showed a speed improvement of almost exactly 1 mph. That’s just my opinion and that of the designer of the aircraft. For what it’s worth . . . make your own decision. Ed Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/index.htm ed -at- edbur???khead.yyy change -at- to @, remove the ??? and change yyy to com From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William R. Bayne Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 1:36 AM To: ercoupe-tech Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Ercoupe Nose Gear Info Hi Tom, I seem to recall that Erco stopped installing the nose gear fairing with the Model G. The snubber cable was a M10 Cadet innovation which keeps the nose strut from fully extending. That's fine because the Mooney has rudder pedals and a large 5.63 sq. ft. rudder swinging 26º left and right that is effective at low speed to compensate for earlier loss of nose gear steering authority taking off and delayed availability of ground steering authority when landing, particularly when operating in crosswinds. Skyport sells the M10 snubber cable, and likely provides necessary paperwork for such installation to be "legal". Because the nose gear fairing is unable to assume its proper position with a snubber cable, it would act as an air scoop if left in place. Because the nose strut cannot extend fully with a snubber, the rubber bumper on the scissors (or "nutcracker" also becomes redundant. I am not a fan of this modification for the following reasons: 1. Nose strut oleo action (shock absorption) is reduced as extension is reduced. 2. The snubber raises cruise position of the nose wheel relative to the air physically accelerated by the propeller outward and behind the actual prop arc, sometimes referred to as "propwash". Induced drag is increased in direct proportion to any interference to the smooth transition of "propwash" to horizontal air flow. The speed penalty to remove the fairing and install a snubber is 1-2 mph, likely more for coupes swinging 73" and 74" props. Comparisons with and without are infinitely simpler for those with GPS. 3. Fred Weick intended that nose wheel steering authority extend as far as possible into the takeoff and be available as early as possible when landing. Ercoupe rudders of 6 sq. ft. total area, each moving 20º outward but only 3º inward are not very effective landing or taking off at "minimum speed", so the extended nose wheel steering authority and the wing's angle to the relative wind (tail height) were materially essential to the Ercoupe's demonstrated ability to predictably and safely cope with high crosswinds with a proficient pilot at the controls. Regards, William R. Bayne .____|-(o)-|____. (Copyright 2009) - _________________________________________________________________ Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093185mrt/direct/01/
