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Helicopter Wheels

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Here's a "Dumb questions about Big Iron" question: Does the nose-wheel lock at all, or is it simply connected to the pedals and always steerable?
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Here's a "Dumb questions about Big Iron" question: Does the nose-wheel lock at all, or is it simply connected to the pedals and always steerable?

No, it's free to rotate 360 and not connected to pedals. Yaw inputs will get it turning in the right direction, with a tad bit of cyclic into the turn to keep a "balanced" turn. Because it can rotate 360, when you get slow or stop in a turn, it tends to want to cock off 90 degrees or so. If that happens, you've got to pick the nose wheel off of the deck and it will straighten out. But that requires a little less than HIGE power and you piss off people and things around you.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
No, it's free to rotate 360 and not connected to pedals. Yaw inputs will get it turning in the right direction, with a tad bit of cyclic into the turn to keep a "balanced" turn. Because it can rotate 360, when you get slow or stop in a turn, it tends to want to cock off 90 degrees or so. If that happens, you've got to pick the nose wheel off of the deck and it will straighten out. But that requires a little less than HIGE power and you piss off people and things around you.

So it doesn't lock at all? Not surprising since a nosewheel is a lot more stable than the tailwheel in our 60S.

And as for the bold... probably not "piss off" and probably more "knock over/blow away". :D

I was 100 feet away from a shitter and had to lean into the blast to not get blown back.
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
So it doesn't lock at all? Not surprising since a nosewheel is a lot more stable than the tailwheel in our 60S.
quote]

Do you guys lock the tailwheel when going straight and then unlock it in a turn?

It's fairly comical to watch LSE's, especially small ones, struggle to stay upright as we depart the boat when we're heavy with internal cargo,. They often require a spotter in order to remain upright.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
So it doesn't lock at all? Not surprising since a nosewheel is a lot more stable than the tailwheel in our 60S.
quote]

Do you guys lock the tailwheel when going straight and then unlock it in a turn?

It's fairly comical to watch LSE's, especially small ones, struggle to stay upright as we depart the boat when we're heavy with internal cargo,. They often require a spotter in order to remain upright.

Ya, we generally remain locked unless we're taxiing. (ie: T/O checks include locking the tailwheel). Limited to 60KGS for landing with a locked tailwheel and 20KGS if it's unlocked. That's why I asked about locking. Wasn't sure if it made a difference, but nosewheel aircraft are MUCH more dynamically stable than tailwheel so it makes sense that you don't need to lock. However, is there some sort of spring tension or dampers which keep the nose straight in equilibrium? I mean I just figured if there wasn't, and the nosewheel got cocked in flight, landing could get quite catastrophic.
 

BigIron

Remotely piloted
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
There are some springs and some other mechanical gizmos in the strut. PFM. We're ground speed limited, so the tires won't shimmy off. Taxi nice and controlled without making extremely sharp turns and things go well.

Worse off is when the one of the gear won't extend. Takes a bit of ground crew coordination at that point.

 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
There are some springs and some other mechanical gizmos in the strut. PFM. We're ground speed limited, so the tires won't shimmy off. Taxi nice and controlled without making extremely sharp turns and things go well.

Worse off is when the one of the gear won't extend. Takes a bit of ground crew coordination at that point.

I've seen that vid. Those ground guys are great. It takes big brass ones to park yourself under 70K pounds of metal being controlled by a pilot over a pitching deck, and go to work. :)
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
(Discussion on H-60 tailwheel groundspeed limits with it locked, unlocked, shimmy damper, no shimmy damper B/F/H/R/S/???)

Those numbers always seemed to vary and were generally optimistic. (Ever been told, "The shimmy damper is just fine, it doesn't need a new one."?)
 

HH-60H

Manager
pilot
Contributor
(Discussion on H-60 tailwheel groundspeed limits with it locked, unlocked, shimmy damper, no shimmy damper B/F/H/R/S/???)

Those numbers always seemed to vary and were generally optimistic. (Ever been told, "The shimmy damper is just fine, it doesn't need a new one."?)

Well, I know for a fact that you can do a running landing in a Hotel at around 80 KGS. I don't really know where the numbers come from i.e. what the limiting factor is.
 

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Do you guys ever do running landings close to that fast? If so, why? Tail rotor scenarios?

We're limited to 40 KGS for nosewheel shimmy
 

highside7r

Member
None
For us Army Hawk guys, 60kts GS is the general gouge on what big Army paid to have the tailwheel tested for. All roll-on's are shot looking for <60kts GS. For the Navy H-60F/H , I don't remember a NATOPs speed as an AW, only to call "HOT brakes" as I held my head out the door to spot the landing.
 
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