I think Harry & WRB have it basically correct.
More comments...
My Coupe has a single fork nose gear and a snubber cable (installed before I
purchased the plane). I have flow the plane for about 11 years and 1500 +
hours as is, with some awareness of this 'heated' technical debate.
I fly in SoCal (Chino) and have to deal with the 'robust' Santa Ana cross winds
regularly (including up to 30 knots direct 90 degree cross wind as called by
the CT personnel while landing at Williams Gateway Airport in AZ - that was my
personal limit, and the forward pressure technique described by Harry is
exactly what I did to maintain directional control against the crosswind).
Nose gear tires seem to last me roughly about 500 to 600 hours although I do
tend to replace them before the tread is worn. I've noticed that the dual
fork tires on other Coupes seem(?) to last a bit longer (not to mention being
much cheaper to buy, but that's a separate issue). I'd guess that the wear
occurs during T/O and landing when steering to counteract cross winds and at
touch down (spin up) however; that's just a personal guess.
I also noticed that the single fork nose gear tires seem to wear unevenly, more
on one side that than the other.
A&P's who don't know Coupes seem to freak out when the see the (normal) amount
of play in the single fork nose gear, so the nose wheel bearing is replaced
more often than is really necessary (fortunately it's not too expensive, so I
humor the A & P and let them replace the wheel bearing if they insist).
The great snubber cable debate seems to me to be a very low level issue, if it
is one at all. Keep the tail height up and just go fly the Coupe, snubber or
not. JMHO
Dan Hall
N3968H
@ CNO
----- Original Message -----
From: William R. Bayne
To: 'Ercoupe Tech Forum'
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Re: snubber cable HOW THIS ROUND STARTED
Hi Dave,
Comments below.
WRB
--
On Mar 15, 2009, at 23:25, David Winters wrote:
All,
Ummmm. I am the one who started this round of snubber-cable discussions.
The Coupe was designed when most strips were grass surfaced.
100% correct. I have pictures of original nose tires without tread. How many
of you
know that the nose wheel tire specified for the Ercoupe was originally
manufactured
as a tail wheel tire for big birds?
So, dragging the nose-wheel a bit sideways on landing was no big deal. But,
dragging a nose wheel sideways across today’s asphalt can cause some
serious
tire wear. The snubber-cable may help to minimize this.
Dave W
Without doubt one would lead to the other, but one would have to literally
take the nose
wheel off the plane to actually do what you so vividly describe. Any
"scrubbing" of the
nose tire (presuming the pilot is not forcing same via the yoke) at touchdown
is as short
and quick as the "built-in" course correction to runway heading and the
"chirp" from the
mains as they accelerate from zero to whatever rpms they turn at landing
speed. It's
virtually instantaneous and the slower one touches down, the less wear occurs.
Are you personally aware of ANY nose wheel tires replaced due to wear? I hear
about
replacement for imbalance, weather checking, foreign object damage, etc.; but
NEVER for
wear. Maybe Lynn, Paul, Bill and our other professionals can weigh in with
more
experience replacing nose wheel tires.
For further context I personally put over 600 landings on the pair of retread
main gear tires
my first coupe came with (already well used), including more crosswind
operation
(practice) than "most". NO visible wear.
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