MadsDad
26th Apr 2005, 19:28
Talking to a pilot of my acquaintance recently and he mentioned a landing he had done with a hydraulic failure which meant he had no nose-wheel steering. He also mentioned 'things got quite exciting for a while'. Thinking about it after though I started wondering what happened to the steerable wheels under those circumstances. I can think of four options:-
1. The wheel will lock into position, pointing 'straight ahead'.
2. The wheel will lock into position in whatever orientation it happens to be when the failure occurs (which could be at right angles to the aircraft).
3. The wheel is allowed to pivot freely on the landing strut, with the wheel centre directly below the strut.
4. The wheel is allowed to pivot freely round the landing strut but the wheel centre is offset (like an old-fashioned chair castor).
Of the four I would think that :-
1. this would be best provided you can make a dead straight approach with no offset (for instance for a crosswind). Any offset though and there will be a problem.
2. This sounds like a method of getting dead quickly and spectacularly.
3. Similar to 2, but a bit more slowly.
4. this would work since the wheel will pivot until it behind the landing strut relative to the direction of the landing and will probably continue pointing in that direction (although you would presumably get some steering effect while it is sorting itself out).
I would suspect that 4. would be the normal method, on the 'least bad under most circumstances' rule but can anyone enlighten me on what is actually used?
1. The wheel will lock into position, pointing 'straight ahead'.
2. The wheel will lock into position in whatever orientation it happens to be when the failure occurs (which could be at right angles to the aircraft).
3. The wheel is allowed to pivot freely on the landing strut, with the wheel centre directly below the strut.
4. The wheel is allowed to pivot freely round the landing strut but the wheel centre is offset (like an old-fashioned chair castor).
Of the four I would think that :-
1. this would be best provided you can make a dead straight approach with no offset (for instance for a crosswind). Any offset though and there will be a problem.
2. This sounds like a method of getting dead quickly and spectacularly.
3. Similar to 2, but a bit more slowly.
4. this would work since the wheel will pivot until it behind the landing strut relative to the direction of the landing and will probably continue pointing in that direction (although you would presumably get some steering effect while it is sorting itself out).
I would suspect that 4. would be the normal method, on the 'least bad under most circumstances' rule but can anyone enlighten me on what is actually used?