Folland Gnat Ground Steering

[danielwood5]

This will be a really easy answer for those in the know but is the rudder on the Gnat connected to the front wheel when it's being steered on the ground like on some WW2 tail draggers? I'm building Airfix's 1/48 Gnat (great kit by the way) and have modelled the rudder offset so now I'm wondering if I have to turn the nose wheel too. I haven't been able to find any photos online of a Gnat taxiing or information about how the steering mechanism works so I'm a bit stumped. Thanks.

[canberra kid]

30 minutes ago, danielwood5 said:

This will be a really easy answer for those in the know but is the rudder on the Gnat connected to the front wheel when it's being steered on the ground like on some WW2 tail draggers? I'm building Airfix's 1/48 Gnat (great kit by the way) and have modelled the rudder offset so now I'm wondering if I have to turn the nose wheel too. I haven't been able to find any photos online of a Gnat taxiing or information about how the steering mechanism works so I'm a bit stumped. Thanks.

I'm not 100% but I'd say nose wheel steering? This is a photo I took at Church Fenton and the nose wheel looks like it's deflected in the direction of the turn but not the rudder?

 

John

Edited October 4, 2020 by canberra kid
typo

[Pete in Lincs]

Way back in time during training at Halton, we had to remove and refit an aileron servo unit from a Gnat. Tiny little unit compared to some I've changed.

Anyway, There's a link here to a Gnat seen while taxiing and it seems to me that the rudder doesn't move during turns.

The rudder would have a hydraulic servo unit, but the nosewheel, I imagine, would simply have a link rod to the rudder pedals,

Or differential braking would be used. Power off, the rudder would more than likely self centre to neutral.

https://encrypted-vtbn3.gstatic.com/video?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWueDOX3fz4XNL8bSNyhqZ9xt2EhMwqK4dRwaR7I16-k0PaVaE

[Skip]

40 minutes ago, danielwood5 said:

is the rudder on the Gnat connected to the front wheel when it's being steered on the ground

No, there was no link.  Steering was by differential braking alone.  Simple and pretty easy to do.  Cheers, Skip

[Jobbie]

The nose-wheels on the Gnat were free to castor like a shopping trolley's wheels up to a certain angle, probably near 45 degrees. Marked by two lines on the forward nose door is the maximum permissible angle to turn the nose wheels via a tow bar. It's probably about 35 degrees, so you won't put undue strain on the internal castor assembly. There is no manual steering system on the Gnat or most similar sized aircraft of the era. You want to taxi left? Press the top of the left pedal to engage left main wheel brake and throttle up slightly- called differential braking. The rudder would have no use at low speeds either.

No hyd lines, cables or shuttle valves are mounted on the nose strut of the Gnat. With weight off wheels, the nose wheel assembly settles into an internal divot on the centre-line, which enables a clean retraction. With weight back on wheels, the centreline notch is raised up clear of the internal divot, and you're free to steer by a combination of rudder movement and applying brakes via the rudder pedals as you bleed off speed. Then it's only braking on one side to turn.

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Jobbie

[danielwood5]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone, they really helped.