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  #41  
Old 11-21-2010, 03:21 PM
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mick mick is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robertahegy View Post
The small frontal area of the RV leaves things more cramped for space compared to Pipers and other AC. Maybe some type of bellcrank setup in the cockpit linking the L and R pedals in the center would be viable and would not need as much space FWF. A spring damper (Piper) in the steering linkage would help reduce stresses on the steering system.

Good luck with your development.

Roberta
Roberta

I have settled on a Bell crank mounted inside the cockpit and just below the hot air valve on the firewall. This will allow a direct link to the nose gear and also allows for the 4" - 2" throw change. the bellcrank will be connected to the pedals by tension springs of approx 4" long. The bellcrank will need to be approx 6" wide to accommodate the rudder pedal movement but will also mean I will have to manufacture a new cover for the heater valve. It seems there is always a solution for one problem but it then causes another problem some where else. The good thing is that a cover is easy to make..

Mick
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  #42  
Old 11-21-2010, 04:04 PM
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robertahegy robertahegy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mick View Post
It seems there is always a solution for one problem but it then causes another problem some where else.
Mick
How true that is!!! I always liked the steerable nose wheel on my Cherokee, so it will be nice when you get your system all worked out.

Roberta
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  #43  
Old 01-13-2011, 03:23 AM
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Well it's been slow going. After many hours trying to get the steering linkages working satisfactorily, I have abandoned that setup for the moment. Clearance of the steering link to engine mount and exhaust was the final straw.
I have instead modified the nose wheel fork to give it caster, almost identical to a Yak52 nose gear. The added bonus will be that the gear can be made lighter, and mark 2 will incorporate a self centering cam. The cam will center the nose gear when there is no load on it such as in flight. This new fork has given the plane a nose high attitude similar to an RV6A, but the final gear will be made so the attitude will be as per original configuration.
At this point the tow harness is attached to the aircraft and just waiting for the rain to let up so the runway can dry out. Maybe the weekend?
I will post the results once we have the testing done.

Mick
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  #44  
Old 01-14-2011, 04:14 PM
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FresnoR FresnoR is offline
 
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Location: Fresno, CA
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Thats great to hear your sticking with it. Keep up the good work.
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  #45  
Old 01-14-2011, 06:44 PM
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frazitl frazitl is offline
 
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
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Default Lots of us

are watching your progress with keen interest. Every plan abandoned is a step toward the final solution... I too favor a more nose high ramp (taxi) attitude, but I think this would be best accomplished with shorter main gear legs.

Keep up your good work.
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Last edited by frazitl : 01-14-2011 at 06:48 PM. Reason: added content
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  #46  
Old 01-14-2011, 09:24 PM
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mick mick is offline
 
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Thank's for all the encouragement guys, I know there is a solution, its just finding the best way of accomplishing it. Once done I'm sure there will be someone who will have other ideas on how it should have been done, but we need to start somewhere. Flight safety ( A magazine here in Aus ) Has listed three RV accidents last month. One was engine failure, but the other two caught my attention as they were both A models with nose gear collapses. I thinks we have a problem!!

I just got home from the hanger, not good signs when bridges are closed and some parts of the roads are under water! Any way checked the strip and I don't think there will be any action on the runway for a few days. The ground is sodden with water and we will need about a week of dry weather before I'll be able to drive on it.
Cheers
Mick
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  #47  
Old 01-15-2011, 07:49 AM
David-aviator David-aviator is offline
 
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Location: Chesterfield, Missouri
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mick View Post
Thank's for all the encouragement guys, I know there is a solution, its just finding the best way of accomplishing it. Once done I'm sure there will be someone who will have other ideas on how it should have been done, but we need to start somewhere. Flight safety ( A magazine here in Aus ) Has listed three RV accidents last month. One was engine failure, but the other two caught my attention as they were both A models with nose gear collapses. I thinks we have a problem!!

I just got home from the hanger, not good signs when bridges are closed and some parts of the roads are under water! Any way checked the strip and I don't think there will be any action on the runway for a few days. The ground is sodden with water and we will need about a week of dry weather before I'll be able to drive on it.
Cheers
Mick
We have been seeing news clips of the flooding in your part of the planet every evening, sure hope things begin to dry out soon. Reminds me of the flood of '93 around here, the Mississippi was 10 miles wide looking north.

Good luck the the NG mod. The larger tire and vertical strut will help for sure.
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  #48  
Old 01-15-2011, 10:29 AM
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Av8torTom Av8torTom is offline
 
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Location: Yardley, PA
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Default Nice work...

Glad to see such innovative thinking...
Thinking out loud here - what about a servo controlled steering? Too complicated?

T.
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  #49  
Old 01-15-2011, 04:29 PM
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mick mick is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Av8torTom View Post
Glad to see such innovative thinking...
Thinking out loud here - what about a servo controlled steering? Too complicated?

T.
I toyed with the idea of using double acting hydraulic cylinders for steering. One attached to the rudder peddles and the other to the nose gear. Would make the system very easy to install, but I was unable to find suitable cylinders at reasonable prices. I even looked at brake master cylinders to see if they could be modified to work. Maybe???
My only concern using such systems is redundancy. If the system fails you need to be able to still control the aircraft on the ground. Possibly using a small amount of caster on the nose wheel fork would allow enough control if the system fails.

Mick
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  #50  
Old 01-29-2011, 10:12 AM
Pbr47906 Pbr47906 is offline
 
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Location: West Lafayette IN
Posts: 103
Default Aerostar Electric Steerable Nosewheels

Mick:

Aerostars use a left-right rocker switch below the throttles for nose wheel steering. Any thoughts to that type of steering. I was first against it, but when you treat it like a tiller wheel, I really liked it. Steering is mainly for taxi and line up and as soon as power came up, rudder authority was sufficient. The toggle could be placed on the control column. Your thoughts?

Paul
N277PM
RV7A
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Fuselage
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