S76 ground taxying, old age and stress
I noticed that the S76, when ground taxiied, appears to have a castoring nose wheel, not controlled by the feet pedals. Am I right in assuming that this means the aircraft, when ground taxiing, turns by the tail rotor 'pushing' the tail in the opposite way to the way in which you wish to turn, and in doing so, wouldn't it create a considerable stress on the tail? I would have thought that the forces involved to push a 76 tail hard enough to get the nose to change direction, over a period of time ie 20years plus of use, would lead to stress of the tail. Can anyone tell me how correct my thinking is on this one? Any known defects/cracks in S76 tails in the past?
Thank you.