Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Toe in Tricycle Gear- Mains

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    21

    Shocked Toe in Tricycle Gear- Mains

    Gentlefolk,
    I have been trying to find all over the net "engineering how to" on how one sets the main gear on tricycle main gear. I have asked at my quite inactive EAA chapter and the only help was, "I built a RV tri-gear and they didn't say anything about it, I just installed the gear..."
    As I am building a plans built aircraft of 1500# gw and a landing speed of 55mph, it didn't have anything to say either about toe in. When I built my Varieze, I was directed to 1/2 to 1 degree toe-in and that was fine and I had pretty even tire wear when that was verified.
    I am not looking to reprise the tail dragger controversy of toe-in as that is discussed all over the net. If that is your experience, please don't respond to this opening post. Did Tony Bingelis address this in any of his books? It's not in "Firewall Forward" as I have that and of course, the main gear is not forward of the firewall .

    In the event of no engineering to be reviewed, I would set it at 1/4° to 1/2° Toe-in and then test fly and see the effect of tire wear and landing and take off control.

    Alan Laudani, Vision EX, Shady Cove, OR

  2. #2
    Cary's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Fort Collins, CO
    Posts
    255
    I would think that depending on what your gear is made of (spring steel, tubular, etc.) that you might get some guidance by comparing it to a similarly made certificated airplane, such as a C150 or C152, both of which weigh roughly 1500 lbs, also. I don't know their specs, but that would be easy to find.

    Cary
    "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
    put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    65
    I needed to do this on a tri-gear refurb. 2 A&P's told me that 1 degree toe-in is fine for almost every application. The trick is that you want that 1 degree when the plane is near max weight & on the ground, not when the wheels are off the hangar floor on a jack.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •