----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
At 02:01 PM 9/12/02 -0500, Mike Dean wrote: >I was told once that the main reason the coupe could land in the kind of >crosswinds that most planes couldn't was because the main gear was >spring loaded and had some castering action to them. I'm still learning. Technically, you are both right. The gear itself does not caster. The WHOLE AIRPLANE casters as a result of the drag-link on the main gear. As the gear goes from the 'dangling' position moderated both by a careful pilot and by a combination of hydraulic dampers and one of two kinds of springs, there is increasing tendency to cause the nose of the airplane to agree with its direction over the ground. This tendency of a wheel on a trailing link to turn the object (or itself) in the direction of travel over a fixed surface is known as 'castor.' Since Uncle Fred introduced it on the Ercoupe, a lot of planes have included a trailing link suspension...look at the Rockwell Commander 114 gear some time, or the Cessna 400-series twins. Understanding the process helps you understand the crosswind technique as recommended in the book. Take off smartly, to minimize the 'argument' between the ground and the air, but land gently and keep the nose gear off to give the mains time to 'negotiate' direction of travel with the ground while the flying surfaces become more and more ineffective and of course try to ensure that the nose wheel doesn't come down until all that palaver is over. Greg ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
