Kevin Horton
Well Known Member
Does it castor freely if you aren't pushing on one of the switches, or is it frozen in whatever position you last put it at?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?
If it castors freely when not being driven, I'm not sure I see the advantage over one that castors all the time. The extra weight, complication and failure modes don't buy much.
If it is frozen in the last position when you aren't pushing on the switch, I fear it could be a handful during landing if it wasn't perfectly centred for some reason. E.g. maybe someone inadvertently hit one of the switches in flight.
I vote for a free castoring nose wheel. Simple, cheap, light and reliable.