Engines: ...The twin wheel nose gear allows 'spot turns' as well as very precise positioning of the aircraft. (It is also a key part of the USN specification for attachment to the catapult shuttle, and nose gear behaviour during launch)...
....The F-35B gets away with a (much lighter) single wheel nose gear because the F-35's basic braking systems are very good, and the main gears are widely spaced....
Would like to get someeducation on single vs twin nose wheel dynamics for catapult capable aircraft.
As I understand the twin nosewheel has become essentially standard with the move from bridle launchedaircraft to nose gear launched aircraft. The nose gear seems much more heavily loaded and the twin nose wheels straddlethe catapult track where the shuttle goes. Some bridle launched aircraft such as the F-4 had twin nose wheels, manydid not.
So how did/do aircraft with asingle nose wheel such as the A-4, F-8 and Super Entendard get away with “mindingthe gap’? Was the tire (tyre for my UKfriends) not cut on the track? Was it amatter of the bridle launch cable imparting much less load on the nose tire andmore of the strain on the mains? I notethat ALL nose gear launched aircraft have twin front tires and have a noticeable nose down compression orbobble immediately as the catapult strokes. One poster seemed that this bobble on the C seemed excessive, but itlooked similar to any F-14 or F/A-18 stroke.
So were some bridle launched aircraftable to get away with a single nose tire?
Happy for any insight- thanks, Dave