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Old 6th Oct 2009, 17:20
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BOAC
Per Ardua ad Astraeus
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
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runway - 'differential friction' - an anecdote for you:

Location: RAF Leuchars in Scotland, Runway 09
Year: 1971, January
Time: 0300
Boac returns from a 5 hour flight in a BAC Lightning, having said 'hello' to some Russian friends up near Iceland for a few hours. 'Runway and taxyways clear of snow and ice'. Deploy chute, then jettison same and trundle towards the end of the runway. At the end at about 20kts I start to turn left across the 'Operational Readiness Platform' (ORP) to take the taxyway off for a pee and a coffee.

Unknown to me (and not at my sharpest at 0300), the ORP had NOT been deiced and was sheet ice. Left main and noswewheel now on the icerink. Start braking to make the 90 off - oh oh....a/c starts to turn right at the right brake does what it is designed to do on a good surface. Ah ah! Try noswheel steering - nope - not interested. By now the right gear is on the ice and I have this element of rotation to starboard, like a second rate Torvill and Dean. After a complete 360 on the ice, seeing the Bell Rock lighthouse, St Andrews, Guardbridge and Leuchars lights pass across my vision, more by luck than anything I stopped, pointing in the right direction. Hmm - engines off, handbrake on and call for AA Relay to take me home.

No - I hadn't given a moment's thought to working out any yaw angles.

To answer your question - no-one knows. With main gear behind the c of g an aircraft should straighten up from a yawing touchdown. All you need is sufficient runway width to accommodate the antics.
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