Thursday, August 18, 2016

The castering nose-wheel

I do a lot of Beechcraft transition training - mostly in the Bonanza.  Over the past two years, I've had three pilots come to me for transition training where there previous aircraft had a castering nose wheel, such as the Cirrus or the Grumman American Tiger.

I've noticed that pilots transitioning from an aircraft with a castering nose wheel have a hard time breaking the habit of using differential braking for turning.  This can be caught by the instructor by keeping their toes on the pedals to determine whether they are being used for steering, or whether the brakes are being applied.  An experienced instructor will be able to tell this right away.  The thought is to save on brakes while taxiing.

Another item of interest is the use of brakes on take-off in a Cirrus or Grumman.  I see this happen all the time and I personally think this is bad technique.  Once you get rolling, you should have enough rudder authority to counteract the wind (to an extent) once you get rolling.  The Bonanza has very effective brakes - attempting to correct directional control while heading down the runway is a recipe for disaster.