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The PA46 Nose Gear & The Keys to Better Landings
by Joe Casey
There have been numerous discussions lately about the nose landing gear on the PA46. The M600 has received the most focus, but the entire PA46 fleet has received focus since the nose landing gear systems are substantially similar in all the PA46s. There’s been some finger-pointing, newspaper articles, letters from Piper, and MMOPA Forum posts about the subject. So, I figured it is high time that I enter into the discussion, dispel
some myths, and relate my opinion about the PA46 nose landing gear. More specifically, I’d like to talk about how to land the PA46.
Similar to many aircraft, we ask a lot of nose gear on a PA46. It is supposed to hold up the weightiest parts of the airplane (the big engine is just above it). It is responsible for the directional control of the aircraft, and most importantly, it corrects for pilot buffoonery.
In a tailwheel airplane, the main landing gear bears
the brunt of the forces on that airplane. This is one of the biggest reasons a tailwheel airplane is used prolifically in bush piloting. But there are many other reasons all airplanes should be tailwheel airplanes (greater prop clearance, less
drag, cool appearance), except one: a tailwheel airplane is directionally unstable.
A tailwheel airplane does not want to go straight
on the ground. It requires constant correction from a well-trained pilot. An average nose wheel pilot that is untrained in tailwheel airplanes will have trouble operating a tailwheel airplane on the ground because they don’t understand the finesse required to keep an aircraft aligned properly with no drift.
Aircraft manufacturers know this, and they also know that a nose wheel airplane is directionally stable. It wants to go straight when being operated on the ground. It is easy to land and easy to taxi. It always wants to go straight. At least, it wants to go straight unless it cannot withstand the forces acting upon it.
The side forces that act upon an airplane on landing
– any airplane, tailwheel, or nose wheel – are immense. But, all of those forces are expected to be handled by
the nosewheel. In a car, tractor, or just about any other land-based vehicle, there are two big wheels up front with infrastructure to handle the enormous pressures. In an airplane, all of which are designed with weight savings
30 MMOPA MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2021