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toe-in or toe-out with gear deflection under load???

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David L. Downey

Curmudgeon under refinement
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Messages
698
Location
Harleysville, PA
lots of smart people on here....please give some feedback? Thank you.
I have a design underway for a very light tractor, tail-dragger biplane that is currently configured with a J3 style shock absorbing gear. The issue is that the gear is more like a tri-pacer in that the main struts are virtually normal to the lower longeron in the side view and the secondary struts are angled back from the outboard lower corners of the firewall to the axles.
On the pipers, both upper pivots are in a line parallel to the centerline of the aircraft in both side and top view. In the current configuration I am playing with, the virtual hinge axis is slanted about 3 degrees in the side view and a similar amount in the top view. I am concerned that under loading/deflection the wheels will toe in. Is toe in under load beneficial or disastrous?
If it is disastrous I can penalize aesthetics and make the firewall lower and wider and also bring the main upper hinge point inboard under the longeron rather than in the load line to the center of the longeron.
all designs are a boat full of compromises but aesthetics matter some to me as does the added weight resulting from the increase in size of the forward fuse...
Thanks!
 
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