So in today’s video we will discuss how a little Cessna steers it’s nose wheel compared to a big airline jet.
The nose wheel on a Cessna is mechanically connected to the rudder pedals which you use to move the rudder attached to the vertical stabiliser.
But the nose wheel only moves by a few degrees, so if you wanted to perform a 90-degree turn to enter a taxiway, for example, you would apply brake pressure on either side of the main landing gear and use the propeller air stream to more or less pull yourself around the corner.
The disadvantages obviously are tyre abrasion and a lot of stress on the nose wheel strut.
So how do airlines do that?
Using asymmetric thrust would do the job, but the torsion forces on the nose wheel strut would severely damage the construction.
So again the nose wheel is linked to the rudder pedals like in our little Cessna.
But another additional mechanism was installed, the so-called nose wheel steering which is powered hydraulically. You could compare that to your power steering in your car.
To learn about it watch the entire video, as I’ll be going to more detail about the hydraulics involved moving the nose wheel.
When the nose wheel steering disconnects, how to perform a flight control check and using the nose wheel steering disconnection button, how to use the steering pin by the push back driver and how to maintain on the center line of the taxiway.
