Tricycle gear?

[steve pagano]

     Has any one ever tried to put regular aluminum landing gear on the fuse but far enough back so you can put a nose wheel?
     On my new project i would like to put tricycle gear but don't want to cut my foam wings to place landing gear blocks in mainly because i never tried it before and the wings are already sheeted.


                                      Any suggestions?
                                              T.I.A
                                             -Steve

[John Miller]

Go for it Steve. I can't think of a reason it would not work just fine.

Don't mount it too far back though, because it'll take too much control to get the plane to rotate on tack off. This can ruin an other wise good score, as the plane tends to jump off once it gets enough speed to rotate.

Try setting the wheels about 1/2 to 1 inch behind the CG. This location has always worked well for me.

[Trostle]

Knowing full well that there is at least one individual that incorrectly thinks that main landing gear should be located relative to some reference to a wing leading edge, the main wheels for a tricycle gear should be located using the CG as a reference point just as the main wheels of a conventional gear should also be located with reference to the CG, regardless of wing planform.

For a tricycle gear, a good rule of thumb is to locate the wheels approximately 10-degrees aft of the CG.  There have been references in the past that the main gear could be as far aft as 15-degrees aft of the CG.  John Miller, who posted above has considerable experience with the trike gear of the Gordan Delaney's Pathfinder series of models.  For the full size Pathfinder, I believe his 1/2" aft of the CG is very close to the 10-degree aft of the CG measurement.  I also believe that John has mentioned before, as I know several other designers locate the CG such that the model will just remain "level" while setting on the ground.  Some of the top trike gear models will have the tail remain touching the ground if the tail is pushed down.  Bart Klapinski's Tempest is a good example of this.  Also, Gordan Delaney places the wheels of his Pathfinders in the same way.

Keith Trostle

[Dean Pappas]

Hi Steve,
I'd like to ditto that last bit of advice Keith gave you: put the mains just far enough forward so that the plane will sit on all three , but if the tail is pushed down it stays there with an empty tank. Also, make the attitude on the ground dead level.

enjoy,
Dean Pappas