Warbird Information Exchange

I was at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Annex today looking at the C-121 and started wondering why the nosewheels are cambered in towards each other on the Connies?

The geometry is set up to provide firm self-centering force on the nose gear to prevent shimmy and to compensate for the possibility of one tire blowing out.
I think, when the Connie was designed that they went erred on the side of caution. Similar geometry exists in other dual nosewheels, but is just more subtle.

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

And if you look closely from the top, I think there is also a slight vertical camber (Toes-in!! Not sure how to say this in English!) for added self centring.

Check out this video at :37 secs. The Connie's nosewheel is being dragged sideways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxW5XeIqexQ

I never flew one, obviously, but that clip tells me it was light on the nose, and perhaps the angled geometry was to try to help it get a better grip on the pavement.

That's it in English as well - Toe-in. Main landing gear is usually set with toe-out to keep the airplane centered when one wheel touches first.

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

The Connie's nose gear is quite tall and skinny (relatively speaking), and shimmy on such a structure could easily lead to damage. My guess would be that they erred on the side of caution to prevent that from happening.

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A Little VC10derness - A Tribute to the Vickers VC10 - www.VC10.net

Cool video. It looks like the ground was snowy/icy when the Connie in the video was turning. But perhaps Connies were light on the nosegear. I've seen film/video of other aircraft dragging the nosewheel(s) sideways in slippery conditions.

Unless loaded oddly, the Connie is no less "nose heavy" than any other piston aircraft (which is to say - it isn't). What you saw in the video was a pilot using differential braking and power on a snowy/icy ramp to steer the airplane and intentionally "drag" the nose wheel to help keep the plane from turning to quickly.

The early Connie was actually very difficult to make too nose heavy because they built the plane to specifically prevent it; putting most of the cabin and the cargo over and aft of the wing. This was because the original wing liked to be "on step" and benefited from having an Aft CG. However, with the different Super Connie wing, the plane liked to be more "neutral" for the CG, so Lockheed put more fuselage forward, giving the airplane a more "balanced" look.

Rough field operations