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Old February 6th 08, 07:09 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Tina
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Posts: 500
Default Why airplanes taxi

Phil, to support your theory, I can tell you the earth weighs 130
pounds in my gravitional field (that's before breakfast. It gains a
little after that.).


On Feb 6, 1:58*pm, Phil J wrote:
On Feb 6, 10:19*am, wrote:

Fixed-wing aircraft taxi because their wheels reduce friction as they
move forward
on the ground.


Wrong. *Wrong. *Wrong.

Fixed-wing aircraft can only achieve a stable taxi by keeping the CG
between the forward and aft wheel points(WPs). * This is why it is so
important in aircraft design that the WPs be placed correctly. * In
the early days of aviation some designers placed all the wheels to one
side of the CG, with the result that the aircraft was dynamically
unstable in taxi. *Sadly, many lives were lost before this phenomenon
was understood.

If the CG is placed correctly in relation to the WPs, the aircraft
establishes taxi by moving the Earth beneath it. *Turns are achieved
by rotating the Earth. *Flight is achieved by dropping the Earth down,
and a landing is made by lifting it back up. *Aerobatics involve
combinations of lifting, dropping, and rotating.

I hope this clears things up for everyone.

Phil