Crosswind gear?

[futr_alaskaflyer]

OK, I'm going to own up and ask about crosswind gear as I've seen oblique references to them on here. I was flipping through one of my older airframe logbooks yesterday and discovered (hadn't noticed before) a maintenance entry from when the Cleveland brakes were installed way back when on 77C (I have double-pucks now but that is a different story) - the "crosswind gear" was removed and replaced with Cessna parts at the same time.

What is it?

[LBPilot82]

It's cheating!!
I've never seen them except on a 195. (I imagine they are similar if not the same). They allow the main gear to turn slightly under load so that if you land in a crab and not a proper slip, the the landing won't be as exciting.

[cessna170bdriver]

There were several types of crosswind gear for 170s. The type that came on N3498C (from the factory) was made by Goodyear I believe, and had a vertical "king pin" and a spring-loaded detent which allowed the axle to rotate fore or aft when a sideload above a certain amount was applied. I'm guessing on this, but I believe the range of rotation was about 30 degrees. Because of the extra degree of freedom of the axle, there's no way to use stock wheel pants with this setup. The mechanism was all steel, and had a solid steel axle. I seem to remember the difference between the weight of this gear and Clevelands to be around 20 pounds. These gear appear in the 170B IPC. I can take pictures of the parts in my box-o-junk if you're interested, or scan some old photos with the gear on the airplane. I flew the airplane with that gear for about a year, and never had any operational problems with it, but never purposely landed in a crab to test it either. It was a source of some entertainment however, as when turning off the runway too fast you'd find yourself pointing not where you were going. It was also a kick to see the look on a line boy's face when making a tight turn into a parking spot with one brake locked, and the wheel on that side askew from the wheel on the other; sort of pigeon-toed. I removed it after my first annual that discovered a cracked wheel and pitted bearings that would have cost more to replace than converting to Clevelands.

Another type of crosswind gear was made by Geiss(??), and consisted of a u-shaped leaf spring between the gear leg and axle. The advantage to this gear was that you could put stock wheel pants on. I've only seen pictures and have no experience with this type gear.

Miles

[futr_alaskaflyer]

Interesting. I knew about the crosswind gear available on the 195 but I would never have imagined it on the 170. Thanks!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I fly regularly in a 170A which has Goodyear crosswind gear. In fact I'm working on a deal to become a partner in that plane.

Besides this 170 I've seen it on maybe one other and have heard of maybe two or three others who still are using them. I wouldn't be surprised if there are less that 10 examples still actively flying them so your not going to see some down at your local airport in any likely hood. I have found owners still using them to be very loyal to them not ever wishing to get rid of them. There are lots of others who hate them and couldn't wait to get rid of them.

Miles described the Goodyear system pretty well. Like Miles I've never tried to land in a crab. Probably because I've never needed to while piloting this airplane. I have taxied all over the airport sideways and I've taken off in a crab. To be honest it is discomforting when they "break out" until you get use to it and it is a pain to get straight after that without practice.

I suspect people who don't like them don't understand them. The spring tension on the gear has to be right or the wheels break out to easily and of course to stiff and they won't work.

You have to use the Goodyear wheel cylinder with this system. These cylinders have what I'd characterize as design flaws. First the brake puck slides in and out in a slot. The friction of the block against the spinning brake disc forces it against the front of the slot. Over time the slot wears away and the puck wears into the area the piston o-ring is trying to seal on and eventually the seal and cylinder fails. Of course the cylinders are out of production and good cylinders and pucks are not readily available unless you find someone like Miles who has saved them.

Besides the wheel cylinder wear problem another issue is the cylinder piston. It is very thin. Maybe 5/16 inch thick. It of course is forced up against the brake puck and as long as the puck top and bottom surfaces are worn parallel all is OK. But of course the pucks don't always wear evenly allowing the piston to cock in the cylinder. When this happens the piston either jams or the seal breaks dumping fluid all over and of course your brakes don't work.

I'm sure the problems with the Goodyear cylinders outweighed any benefit of the crosswind gear in all but a few die hard minds and that is why you just don't see them except in cardboard junk boxes.