On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 10:07:59 -0800, Joa wrote:

OK, I've researched this a fair bit and am still hearing two definite
different views. One one hand you have those that swear you need
toe-out and then on the other you have (among others- these are the
few I'm certain about) Cessna 100 series, Huskies, and Pitt's that all
are set with slight toe-in by the factory. Granted these are set
without weight on the aircraft and the toe-in may change slightly when
under load.

I think it boils down to what wins when you start to go into a turn
with a taildragger- does the toed-in outside wheel "drag" and thus
want to straighten you back out or does the toed-out outside wheel get
weight transferred to it and tend to straighten you out (vs tightening
the turn)?

Anybody with some definite answers based on physics? There's lots of
emperical and experiential opinions out there, anybody with some more
factual answers to the argument?

J oa

Toe in vs Toe out depends on the type of gear you have your wheels
connected to. This is the absolute first thing to consider before even
thinking about setting toe. If your gear is articulated you
need neutral or toe-in. Why? Because the gear legs will be forced apart
with toe out and the plane will start to sink on its gear. And it will
happen as you push it out of the hanger. It takes very little to get the
gear legs to spread if there is toe out. The rate at which it will sink
depends on the amount of toe out. So if you have bungees or
springs on some sort of A arm gear legs please don't use any toe-out.


If you have fixed gear like a one piece steel or aluminum unit then you
can consider all these other posts about how it should be set.

Mike