Turning trouble during taxi

[1964-M20E]

A friend was asking me about a Mooney C model not sure of the exact year he has trouble turning right during taxi. 

I asked if he verified rigging of the nose wheel.  Also the left brake was sticking before and he had it worked with the caliper rebuilt as well as the master cylinder.  The problem was noticed after this but he is unsure if it existed before.  He said he needs to increase RPM to turn to the right.  I suspect he is using differential barking to assist in the right turn.  I’m not sure if there is any tendency to track to the left but I do not think so.  The mechanic said there is nothing blocking the peddle travel.

I suggested setting up something to measure how far left and right the nose wheel will travel with the peddles while hoisting the nose wheel off the ground to make it easy.

 

I want to try taxiing the aircraft myself to see exactly what he is experiencing.

 

Has anyone else heard of or experienced this?

 

 

 

[Bob]

If it was me, I would taxi it myself to experience the issue.  Then run it back to the hangar and put it on jacks and spin the wheels by hand to see if one side is binding.  If done quickly, it will eliminate the unknown due to brakes cooling off.  It is possible for things to change a lot from hot to cold.  Next step would be to inspect the nose wheel.  Many posts in the past of all types of nose wheel issues due to tugging, rigging, etc.

[Marauder]

I had this happen once and it was a binding brake. The only other things that I can think of being involved would be the interconnect links to the rudder and the nose wheel hardware.

[jrwilson]

Probably not an issue, especially since it seems a mechanic has been involved, but what about low tire pressure on one side?

[Hank]

My home field does not have a parallel taxiway, just a single runway entrance off-center towards the most common end. So I back-taxi for every departure and every landing. I noticed my plane turns right better than left; full right rudder will turn me around using about 60' of runway width [based on pavement seams where it was widened on both sides from 50' to 75' at some point in the past], but full left rudder will put one tire in the grass.

 

A friend's F does better turning left.

 

No, I do not use differential braking unless necessary, just throttle to idle, brake to slow and full rudder.

 

Makes me wonder if it has to do with the hand building process used on our planes instead of more modern manufacturing techniques.

 

BUT if he had the left brake worked on and now has trouble turning right, the first place I would look is the left brake, the left wheel and the left main gear. Something is probably rubbing that shouldn't be.

[1964-M20E]

Both main gear wheels roll freey no binding on the brakes

Hopefully I'll get a chance to taxi it soon so I have first hand exprince.

thanks for the help.

[carusoam]

If the C is anything like the R....

The nose wheel turns at a maximum to the right is 13 deg. Left is only 11 deg. This comes from the POH...

Min. turning radius - no brakes applied...

Right ....40 ft.

Left ......48 ft.

So on a narrow runway bounded by snow banks, always start on the left edge and turn to the right...

Does this sound familiar?

Best regards,

-a-

[triple8s]

Left brake binding/sticking? if the wheel has been off and the tiny little spacer is on the wrong side of the wheel then it will cause the caliper to bind once the brakes are applied. The wheel wont bind after reassembly until the brake is applied, once applied then, the caliper wont release fully.

[Hank]

If the C is anything like the R....

The nose wheel turns at a maximum to the right at 13 deg. Left is only 11 deg. This comes from the POH...

Min. turning radius - no brakes applied...

Right ....40 ft.

Left ......48 ft.

So on a narrow runway bounded by snow banks, always start on the left edge and turn to the right...

Does this sound familiar?

Best regards,

-a-

 

Thanks for the info! Must be nice to have a real POH. All I have for my C is the landing gear location, track width, tire size and pressure. You should see my two-page Emergency Procedures section. "In case of engine fire, turn cabin heater off." Gotta love it!

 

But it does make me wonder why my friend's F turns left better than right?

 

Sounds like John needs to do a taxi test, and if it starts to bind after braking jack it up and look for the source.

[N601RX]

When Taxing with the pedals level, will it taxi straight or turn slowly to one side?   Are the rudder stops adjusted correctly? Does it have the newer style nose gear with the turning stops?  If so are they adjusted  so that they don't prevent full steering in both directions.  They should not touch until after you have full rudder deflection.

 

I also found a fuel and brake line that here rubbing during full rudder inputs in one direction.  It was behind the exhaust cavity on the pilot side. It looked like there was plenty of clearance until a full rudder input was made.