Thanks guys.
John, thanks, it's obviously much more complicated than I thought it was! Confused by a lot the points you make, but it certainly gives me things to think about, and I don't know the answer to some of the questions you ask (and neither does the other guy). I hadn't considered the aerodynamic effects, and they will probably make a considerable difference to my over-simplified explaination.
F3G, why is ground induced friction being removed from the landing gear? If anything, I'd have thought there'd be more friction - the bump will apply a force to the bottom of the wheel, which would add an additional load to the bearings, etc, until such time as the body of the aircraft moves up by the same amount as the wheels have moved
Kabz, I'm talking about taking off, not landing! Although the situation towards the end of the take-off roll is very similar to the start of the roll-out after a wheel-landing, so there's certainly some cross-over. You said "any reaction from the ground must be countered by a forward movement of the stick..." If you make the assumption that the aircraft would pitch up without this forward movement of the stick, I agree - what I'm interested in is why the aircraft pitches up without pilot intervention.
Any more thoughts from anyone?
FFF
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