Where and why the nosewheel button in real aircraft?

[harf4ng]

Hi,

 

First, I wonder, why did they do that for this aircraft, to lock the nosewheel till we press a button? Is it to have a more sturdy nosewheel?

 

Also, in the real aircraft, where is this button?

 

Thanks

[Justin Case]

It is positioned on the forward bottom part of the joystick, by your pinkie.

I assume you are not really supposed to use NWS at higher speeds during take off and landing, so that's why it's possible to turn it on and off.

[harf4ng]

Ok so the default trigger of the X55 stick is good for this.

Though yes I can understand you can turn it off and on, but I wondered why this plane especially has this, and not others :)

 

edit : and btw can we find somewhere what all the buttons of the real sabre on the stick are for? I guess belsimtek has all those infos... I think I have more buttons on my X55 than on the real sabre, so maybe I could have a realistic layout...

 

Thanks

Edited January 18, 2016 by harf4ng

[Holbeach]

 

The button is the control valve for the hydraulic power steering.

 

..

Edited January 18, 2016 by Holbeach

[QuiGon]

A quote that came to my mind when I saw this thread:

I taxied out with little power and was immediately reminded of the poor nose-wheel steering system.

from: http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/doug-matthews-describes-flying-f-86-sabre.html

;)

[harf4ng]

Thanks.

And do we have info about how works this normal trim switch?

 

btw this scan, where does it come from?

 

And thanks for the link, QuiGon, interesting reading ;)

Edited January 18, 2016 by harf4ng

[Holbeach]

Thanks.

And do we have info about how works this normal trim switch?

 

btw this scan, where does it come from?

 

And thanks for the link, QuiGon, interesting reading ;)

 

RL Flight Manual.

 

https://www.scribd.com/doc/248324048/F-86F-Flight-Manual-performance-data

 

..

[harf4ng]

Thanks again.

Pfff we have to pay to download it :)

 

This one is also wonderful, good quality, though for the E variant I have read...

http://aviationshoppe.com/manuals/f-86_flight_manual/f-86.html?pageNumber=

Edited January 18, 2016 by harf4ng

[QuiGon]

Free and F variant: http://www.mediafire.com/view/r33oes59v3a2a54/F-86F_Flt_Manual_+_perf_data.pdf

[Luzifer]

Though yes I can understand you can turn it off and on, but I wondered why this plane especially has this, and not others :)

 

It's hardly the only plane. It is special in that it is a button that needs to be held where in most other planes it is a toggle that needs to be pressed to switch between nose wheel steering on/off.

 

Naturally if the plane has no nose wheel steering it doesn't need to be turned on or off.

[harf4ng]

And the advantage of nose wheel steering is that this allows the plane to turn faster than a plane without?

[NeilWillis]

Well, it does stop you bumping into stuff, so that's a big advantage!

[OnlyforDCS]

And the advantage of nose wheel steering is that this allows the plane to turn faster than a plane without?

 

All modern tricycle based planes need nosewheel steering to turn while taxing on the ground. If they don't have it, they cant really turn. At the very least they need to have a nose wheel that can be unlocked and locked to that they can turn with differential braking.

[NeilWillis]

Unless it is a MiG of course, in which case they have castoring nose wheels, and differential braking.

[harf4ng]

Maybe but for instance in the Savannah 912S I fly in real life, there is no such thing as a nosewheel unlock button or switch. And no differential braking. I guess this is because the nosewheel is never locked then.

Do jets need such a lock system because at the speed they have, the nosewheel will not be sturdy enough if not locked?

[NeilWillis]

We're talking about a 1950s jet here, when hydraulic systems weren't as sophisticated as they are today. I'm sure they'd have the same stuff as on modern aircraft - if it had been available. It must surely just be a limitation they settled on for good reasons at the time.

 

As the nose wheel is linked to the rudder pedals, having to hold a button in to activate the nose wheel is a great safety feature to avoid unwanted errors in the take off roll. Maybe it was something a designer thought was a great idea at the time, but it didn't catch on?

[Luzifer]

Freely castoring nose gears are used in smaller planes, it removes the complexity of a steering system. In DCS there's the MiG-21 and the Hawk with unsteered nose gears to my knowledge, maybe also the C-101. And for completeness, also the Mi-8 and Ka-50. Unsteered nose gears are recognizable by being in a dragged configuration, i.e. the wheel(s) are behind the rotation axis, much like office chair rollers.

 

The reason for disabling steering of a steerable nose gear is that it is way too effective at the high speeds during takeoff and landing and would make the plane uncontrollable.