nosehair
Well-Known Member
OK, I see a couple hints at flying a tailwheel in this thread, so...
A 152 is a trainer. Many lessons can be learned from this experience.
#1 is the PIC experience to abort the take-off because of an unusual condition - that's #1, but is true for all flights and all airplanes. What the OP did is right, and it is right to "fix the shimmy".
However, the 152 is a trainer. Flight training is different than normal operations.
We train to the worst scenario. Or to the most efficient way - which becomes the safest way.
That's a broad-brush statement, so let me be specific to the "nose-wheel shimmy" problem.
This is problematic with trainers, because student pilots allow the nose-wheel to land too soon after the mains. I've seen rated pilots who try to put all three on at the same time.
The nose-wheel isn't built for that. It is not a landing gear, it is a taxi gear.
After landing on the mains, in the near-stall attitude, the nose-wheel is held off until losing speed and lift enough to lower and land the nose-whel as you approach fast taxi speeds.
I teach landing a nose-wheel the same as a tail-wheel. If the 152 had a tailwheel, the touch-down attitude would be almost the same.
This is the safest slowest way to land any airplane, and is how training should occur.
Maybe you don't like the nose-high attitude, or the stall warning going off, or all those things pilots say about scaring pax, and I can agree on some of those things, but that is normal ops.
Training is about normal operations, but it is also about abnormal and emergency operations.
What if your student is on a x/c and the nose-wheel starts to shimmy?
Anyway, in training, we should always be applying some back pressure on the elevator. That is normal. The nose-wheel is not designed to roll at lift-off speeds.
I'm not saying to lift it all the way off (unless you're doing a soft field) but you should hold a little of the airplane weight off the nose-wheel as you accelerate enough to feel the back pressure. that's a normal take-off procedure, and any shimmy will be felt, but you will be able to increase a little more back-pressure, and continue the flight.
This is one of those mechanical things that we must learn to deal with.
In training.
Normal operations is different. Like renting a car. Or owning your own. With no pressures.
If you're renting and on a lazy afternoon pleasure flight, you might want to abort the take-off and take the time to address the mechanical problem.
If you're away from home, on a dark night, the FBO is closed, and your cell phone battery is dead, and you start feeling a shimmy on take-off, ...wha'cha gonna do?
The 152 is a Trainer.
Learn from the training experience.
A 152 is a trainer. Many lessons can be learned from this experience.
#1 is the PIC experience to abort the take-off because of an unusual condition - that's #1, but is true for all flights and all airplanes. What the OP did is right, and it is right to "fix the shimmy".
However, the 152 is a trainer. Flight training is different than normal operations.
We train to the worst scenario. Or to the most efficient way - which becomes the safest way.
That's a broad-brush statement, so let me be specific to the "nose-wheel shimmy" problem.
This is problematic with trainers, because student pilots allow the nose-wheel to land too soon after the mains. I've seen rated pilots who try to put all three on at the same time.
The nose-wheel isn't built for that. It is not a landing gear, it is a taxi gear.
After landing on the mains, in the near-stall attitude, the nose-wheel is held off until losing speed and lift enough to lower and land the nose-whel as you approach fast taxi speeds.
I teach landing a nose-wheel the same as a tail-wheel. If the 152 had a tailwheel, the touch-down attitude would be almost the same.
This is the safest slowest way to land any airplane, and is how training should occur.
Maybe you don't like the nose-high attitude, or the stall warning going off, or all those things pilots say about scaring pax, and I can agree on some of those things, but that is normal ops.
Training is about normal operations, but it is also about abnormal and emergency operations.
What if your student is on a x/c and the nose-wheel starts to shimmy?
Anyway, in training, we should always be applying some back pressure on the elevator. That is normal. The nose-wheel is not designed to roll at lift-off speeds.
I'm not saying to lift it all the way off (unless you're doing a soft field) but you should hold a little of the airplane weight off the nose-wheel as you accelerate enough to feel the back pressure. that's a normal take-off procedure, and any shimmy will be felt, but you will be able to increase a little more back-pressure, and continue the flight.
This is one of those mechanical things that we must learn to deal with.
In training.
Normal operations is different. Like renting a car. Or owning your own. With no pressures.
If you're renting and on a lazy afternoon pleasure flight, you might want to abort the take-off and take the time to address the mechanical problem.
If you're away from home, on a dark night, the FBO is closed, and your cell phone battery is dead, and you start feeling a shimmy on take-off, ...wha'cha gonna do?
The 152 is a Trainer.
Learn from the training experience.
:beer:
