New nose gear MKll

[scsmith]

I like your approach.
I'm thinking of things that might arise that haven't been tested yet. Not to be negative, just to be thorough.

I'm wondering if it is possible to have the nose wheel turned a significant angle while in flight, say almost 90 degrees, by some sequence of events that I can't currently imagine.
Then, with the wheel turned 90 degrees, is there sufficient castor to make the wheel straighten out at touch-down without any other ill effects?

I could foresee the possibility of skidding the tire, or rolling the tire off the rim, or overloading the strut, if it touched down while turned 90 degrees. Generally castoring nose wheels have substantially more "trail". Or perhaps there is enough here?

I can only speculate how that could happen though, maybe. Maybe very high speed flight? Note that the aerodynamic center on the tire is about 25% of the diameter back from the leading edge, while the pivot is at 50% of the diameter. So it would be pitch unstable, and at some very large airspeed, it would diverge to 90-degree turn.

[aircrafter]

Hi Steve
All good points. I don't think it would be wise to fly without a wheel fairing fitted because of the points you listed. At the moment there is no steering stops fitted and I'm looking at fitting the scissor links from my previous gear. They could act as steering stops and also a form of shimmy dampening similar to some of the glasairs.
I don't think the outcome of the nose wheel being at 90 degrees during landing would be very good.

Mick

[Randy]

This design has the potential to make the A model RV much more popular. I would feel much more comfortable landing on grass or dirt strips with the A model with the larger wheel and tire plus the obvious advantage of some telescoping suspension travel.

If you do not plan to go into production of these, I hope you will be willing to pass the design on to someone who will!

It will be an added bonus if the RV10 wheel p[ant can be easily fitted.

I want one.

Randall in Sedona AZ

[tclaire]

Originally Posted by aircrafter

Hi Steve
All good points. I don't think it would be wise to fly without a wheel fairing fitted because of the points you listed. At the moment there is no steering stops fitted and I'm looking at fitting the scissor links from my previous gear. They could act as steering stops and also a form of shimmy dampening similar to some of the glasairs.
I don't think the outcome of the nose wheel being at 90 degrees during landing would be very good.

Mick

You might also look at the Lancair Es it has the nose wheel telescoping strut, with a self centering device in the strut that centers when the nose wheel leaves the ground.

[aircrafter]

I did look into the Lancair strut, nice unit. The problem I felt was mounting to the engine mount and the cost.. Around $4,000 just for the strut. The total cost so far for my gear is around $2,500. A self centering cam like the Lancair and many other retractable aircraft could be fitted, but I felt the extra complexity and additional cost was not really necessary.
I'm hoping to have the magneto fixed and have the scissor links fitted next week.
Testing will continue!!

Mick

[aircrafter]

The scissor links are now fitted.
The collar for the links also acts as a friction shimmy dampener and as can be seen in the new vid the wheel no longer follows the undulations at slower speeds.
The max speed according to the Dynon was 24knots for this run.
http://youtu.be/zfq-yWwCYyw

[xblueh2o]

That tracking looks pretty solid now. Nice work.

[bugsy63]

Looks just like a bought one.
Well done with your persistence Mick. I guess I'll have to show it off at Oshkosh this year?

[Randy]

Can you post a photo of the attachment to the motor mount area?

[aircrafter]

This is a picture of a early version that was not used but does show the attachment.