Nose Gear Modifications

[Dreamer]

Hello Gyro World,
This is my first post. I'm an A&P/IA and have drempt since a pre-teen of building a Gyrobee. Within this year or the first of next, I will fly my own! I will probably use StarBee's kits. I'm going to begin with a legal ultralight, but heavily modified. I'm presently employeed as a Aircraft Certifications & Engineering Inspector, so I will make sure it is RIGHT. I just wondered if any one out there has pictures or prints of their modified nose wheel/rudder pedal installations?. I'm looking @ trying to put pedals on it that are directly linked to nose wheel stearing. Money aside, just hunting best method without weight penalty! Thanks! I can't wait to post my pictures, soon!!!!! :D

[gyroman]

You can check out my website, I have a few pages showing some modifications people have made. Welcome aboard!!

[Dreamer]

Thanks alot and I'm looking foward to getting in the air!!

[gyropilot]

I just wondered if any one out there has pictures or prints of their modified nose wheel/rudder pedal installations?. I'm looking @ trying to put pedals on it that are directly linked to nose wheel stearing.Here are some pictures of the semi-decoupled steerable nose wheel I'm currently using on my Bee. I think I have about 75 hours on it so far and it's worked perfectly. Sorry... no prints available.

The forks are heavy wall 6061-T6 aluminum tubing. There are oil impregnated bronze bushings in the nose block with a plastic friction washer under the cross brace (to prevent nose wheel shimmy).

The rudder pedal design is one I "lifted" from Ken Rehler's gyro. They're a little different in that they pivot in the middle allowing full control with only one foot if needed... as when the other foot is operating the brake pedal.

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals1.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals2.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals3.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals4.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals5.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals6.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals7.jpg

http://home.usaa.net/~gyropilot/GyroBee/RudderPedals8.jpg

Regards,

John L.

[Dreamer]

Thanks alot. I'm looking @ something alot like what you have here!

[Doug Riley]

"Heavily modified." Geez, I hate to hear that. You don't really know what NEEDS modifying (if anything) until you've lived with the design as it is. Almost every homebuilder's "improvement" is more complex than the original, so why not build the simple stock version, fly it and then figure what you'd like to "improve?" I guarantee that your views will change after you've flown awhile.

Unitized nosewheel steering is more of a hornet's nest (no pun intended) than you might first think. Just about every approach to this "improvement" results in a gyro that can, under certain conditions, swerve suddenly sideways the moment you touch the nosewheel down. Back when I was selling 'Bee kits, I spent more time commiserating with people who were trying to create an "improved" nose gear than just about anything else. Some folks went through three or four completed units before they got something they liked.

For my own 'Bee, I commandeered the (non-unitized) steering bar and plywood scrub brake from my old Bensen, bolted them on a stock AEROTEC nosewheel fork and went flyin'. Haven't seen fit to "improve" this setup.

[gyropilot]

"Heavily modified." Geez, I hate to hear that. You don't really know what NEEDS modifying (if anything) until you've lived with the design as it is.I agreed with Doug whole heartedly. I've made the mistake of trying to "improve" the GyroBee before I knew what I was doing. Big waste of time and money, not to mention dangerous.

Build it stock, fly it for a year, *then* start carefully making modifications one at a time.

John L.

[Brian Jackson]

I'll be building my GyroBee totally stock. However, does the GyroBee not have a steerable nosewheel by design? Does it castor? How is ground steering accomplished? Or did I misunderstand something in the comments? Thanks.

Regards,
Brian Jackson

[Doug Riley]

You can either link it to the pedals with relatively soft* springs or bolt a steering bar to the fork and have separate heel steering. I did the latter. Some folks find that such a steering bar (push right to go left) feels backwards to them. It's the same sense of motion as a set of bike handlebars, though.

Nosewheel steering is used only at low throttle settings. Once you're throttled up to about 3000 RPM, the rudder becomes effective enough for most of your steering needs. At that point, you can get off the steering bar and simply allow the nosewheel to caster freely. Just remember to get back on the bar after landing.

*The softness is to allow the wheel to adopt the direction of the gyro's motion when it contacts the ground, even if you're holding some rudder. You don't want the nose to swerve abruptly upon ground contact just because you're correcting for a crosswind. Even with soft springs, you'll experience some swerving tendency if you link the wheel to the pedals.

[gyropilot]

Some folks find that such a steering bar (push right to go left) feels backwards to them. It's the same sense of motion as a set of bike handlebars, though.Doug,

Speaking of bicycle steering, you probably already know this, but I thought someone might find this little fact interesting...

When steering a bicycle or motorcycle at any speed above a brisk walk, did you know that you actually "counter-steer" or move the handlebars in the *opposite* direction from your desired course in order to turn? In other words, if you point the front wheel to the right, the bicycle or motorcycle will lean and turn to the left.

A good explanation of this phenomenon can be found here (http://www.ommriders.com/read-ride/advancedriding/Technicalnotesoncountersteering.htm).

Regards,

John L.

[Dean_Dolph]

Brian, it was good to meet you at the Mentone Gyro Bee forum that Tom Milton setup. It was disappointing that the Gyro Bee people in attendance didn't show up and there were enough that it would have been interesting if not informative. Ralph hadn't arrived yet so he is off the hook. Maybe Tom will give us another chance next year!

[Ralph]

Brian,

The Gyrobee DOES have nose-wheel steering and it works as you would expect in a normal aircraft (the rudder cables cross-over between the pedals and the rudder control horns). Ths system works fine for all normal steering on runway type surfaces and there is no transition needed as the aircraft picks up speed on the takeoff run.

For extremely tight steering on grass, you can use a long bolt with spacers on the nose wheel axle and drop your feet down to the resulting wheel "pegs" if needed. In that case, you are working directly on the wheel and thus you are in the bicycle steering mode.

Dean,

None of us were aware that a Gyrobee forum had been set up and there was no one designated to head it up. I would have been happy to run such a forum (I did an ASC Rotor Wing forum at 2PM on Saturday), but it has to be scheduled when I am actually going to be there :=)

Ralph