Tecnam P92 EM Echo ground steering

[Lowflyer]

Having owned my P92 Ultralight for only a short time I am wondering if I am alone in finding the ground steering as heavy as lead.

 

I find on Tarmac it is heavy, but I guess acceptable, but on farm strip and grass I need an amazing amount of input on the rudder pedals to turn.

 

The springs underneath seem pretty tight and obviously do a reasonable job of keeping the nose wheel straight on landing, but it seems at the expense of very heavy ground manouvering.

 

Would appreciate any feedback.

 

Thanks.

 

Roly (Pom Flyer)

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

G'day Roly,

 

I'm very familiar with the Echo Super - I haven't heard of the EM however.

 

Nevertheless, the "steering" shouldn't be heavy. Sometimes a bit of slack in the system can mean that it's ineffective but I've never experienced heavy steering. My "friends" may say that that is because I have Gorilla tendencies but my sylph-like daughter also has no trouble with the ground steering.

 

I think you need someone who knows Tecnams to go over it to make sure that all is well.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Lowflyer]

re ground handling.

 

Thanks for the feedback Mike the P92 EM Echo is the U.K. microlight version with the Jabiru engine.

 

I am going to slacken the springs underneath the plane and do some taxi trials, will see if this helps.

 

I have a couple of Echo owners not far away and will see if they have any ideas.

 

Thanks again.

 

Roly

 

 

[Guest bateo]

Roly,

 

I would check the springs, It sounds like they're aftermarket- or just plain too tight and limits the force needed to overcome the tension of the spring itself.

 

I am thinking that on a grass strip, that the springs are acting as a 'shock absorber' on a rough surface (Another force against your inputs, e.g going into a small rivet in the ground could pull nose wheel left or right depending on the angle it's on) and you tend to need even more input to force the nose wheel back in a straight position. Therefore it would be heavier than a smooth surface, e.g tarmac.

 

I have heard of this happening before on a smaller a/c- Just not a Tecnam, although I too am not familiar with the EM?

 

 

[Lowflyer]

re P92 ground steering

 

Thanks for the feedback Sam. Yes maybe the springs are not up to par.

 

I will try lightening the load on them by making longer tangs and see if this helps.

 

If not I will have to do some serious muscle building for my legs.

 

Thanks again.

 

Roly.

 

 

[Guest blakey36]

Having owned my P92 Ultralight for only a short time I am wondering if I am alone in finding the ground steering as heavy as lead.I find on Tarmac it is heavy, but I guess acceptable, but on farm strip and grass I need an amazing amount of input on the rudder pedals to turn.

The springs underneath seem pretty tight and obviously do a reasonable job of keeping the nose wheel straight on landing, but it seems at the expense of very heavy ground manouvering.

 

Would appreciate any feedback.

 

Thanks.

 

Roly (Pom Flyer)

Having just come back to flying after a few years absence...I started doing dual with the local flight school CFI in a P92...I also found the rudder pedals very hard needing quite a bit of pressure...UNTIL two or three sessions later I went up with a senior instructor and low and behold the rudder pedals needed only the lightest of pressure...Yes you've guessed it our CFI sits with his feet on the pedals when challenged with this he denies it of course so make sure you have no ghostly CFI sitting in the righthand seat.

 

Bryan

 

 

[Lowflyer]

Heavy ground steering on a P92

 

No such luck with my plane Bryan, only me on the pedals and gaining leg muscles by the minute.

 

Crafty old CFI keeping you covered on the pedals !!!

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Roly. (Pom flyer)

 

 

[Guest brentc]

What about tyre pressure? Is it tight enough?

 

 

[Lowflyer]

heavy ground steering on P92

 

Thanks Brent, yes they are 22 on the mains and 15 nose, which I think is about right.

 

I will have a bit more time soon to get to grips with this, so will report back if I come up with anything.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Roly

 

 

[Bruce]

Roly, the main difference between the Australian Tecnams and those in the UK is that ours are all factory built and fitted with 100 hp Rotax engines. I assume that you are the builder or have purchased from the builder. (UK does not allow factory built recreational aircraft and I think you are limited to 450 kg MTOW?)

 

All our nose wheels are quite light in the ground steering so possible sources of friction are over-tightened bolts where the nose wheel is fastened to the engine frame or your chains to the springs are too short and you are having to really stretch the springs.

 

As a first step why not try to taxi with the springs to the rudder pedals disconnected and see if that makes a difference.

 

Regards

 

Bruce (TECNAM Australia)

 

 

[Lowflyer]

re heavy ground steering.

 

Hi Bruce, yes will definitely give it a go. Thanks for the feedback

 

The Ultralight P92 in the U.K. called the P92EM Echo was only able to get get into the Ultralight category (450KG) if it used the Jabiru engine. Mike Rudd the then importer looked at this market and did the work to get it accepted. These Ultralight version planes were all homebuilt and there are quite a few in the U.K. happily flying with the Jabiru 2200A engine.

 

I bought mine recently which had had two previous owners and was built by the first.

 

The General Aviation version with the 912s Rotax is also available here and I believe they are mostly factory built and come in the (570KG) range.

 

It is reassuring to know that the Ultralight version has the same airframe and although in a lower weight category is certainly strong enough to carry weight up to the 570 if not quite legal over here, thus giving a good safety margin.

 

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Roly (pom flyer)