AirMidwest B1900 Off Runway

[IRELAND]

THREAD

THREAD?

 

[Filkster]

NWS?

Nothing like MEL's to make life more interesting, I have done the nosewheel inop once before and honestly it scared the crap outa me.

Glad no one was hurt
Bear

I only have 3400 hours in the B1900 and none of the planes I flew had NWS, what's the big deal flying without it??
RF

 

[Freddie Spencer]

After that many hours in the 1900 you should know that they all had nose wheel steering, maybe not power steering, but you were still able to steer the a/c on the ground with the nose wheel, hence "nose wheel steering"...

 

[chperplt]

After that many hours in the 1900 you should know that they all had nose wheel steering, maybe not power steering, but you were still able to steer the a/c on the ground with the nose wheel, hence "nose wheel steering"...

You obviously don't have a clue about what everyone is talking about!

When the 1900 is in free caster mode, the only steering you have is with diff braking. You have NO movement from the nose wheel from inside the cockpit.. AKA..No nose wheel steering!

 

[jetfueljunkey]

Power steering?

NONE of the ZV 1900's have power steering all are just like any beechcradt aircraft. Manual nosewheel steering thru the rudder. If the NWS is MEL'ed then it is in free caster mode! It is not hard to handle under normal conditions...I can say from experience that it does suck and could be a handful if you had a strong gusty crosswind......Especially if you were in the range where your rudder was no longer effective and you were still moving along pretty good where hard braking may blow a tire or 2! No antiskid on them either! Pretty much no options on any ZV 1900! No Brake heat, no auto pilot, no Flight director on the F.O.'s Side etc!

 

[jobear]

And at my company your not supposed to use Differential braking above a certain speed ( I forgot what it is sorry)so all you have is the rudder and that deminishes with a loss of airspeed as mentioned above. We have no power steering on our 1900's just the manual steering.

JoBear

 

[deskjobssuck]

Hmmm, about the lack of FD on the FO's side, if you're a captain, you arent missing much. Well, other than being able to watch the FO very smoothly fly where s/he isn't supposed to go. You know, after setting the stupid thing up wrong. Over and over. It can be a great diversion during an otherwise boring trip.

Sorry about the rant, but the last four legs were a little trying and the mention of the FD hit a sore spot. We really do have some of the best people Ive ever flown with. I guess I'm just turning into a crabby old fcuk.

 

[Filkster]

After that many hours in the 1900 you should know that they all had nose wheel steering, maybe not power steering, but you were still able to steer the a/c on the ground with the nose wheel, hence "nose wheel steering"...

My mistake. Nouf said.
RF

 

[Weasel Keeper]

Are NWS MELs a common thing for a 1900? (just curious). Is it just expected of a 1900 pilot that he is comfortable with brake/steering?

Standing from the outside looking in, it seems the 1900 has a lot of problems that other TPs don't really worry about as much.

And yes I agree that bringing up the fatality crash last year was in very poor taste for the media...but I guess blood sells for those a$$munches.

 

[WileE]

Don't know.

I flew with air mid for almost two years before leaving for much greener pastures. I never had that particular MEL on any of the ones I flew or heard anyone talking about flying one without the NWS. I figure it can't be that common.

 

[BeechSlapped]

When CommutAir had the older 1900's (circa 1996 models) MEL's due to the power steering being inoperative were frequent. However, ever since we bought all new airplanes (except one) we haven't had that many problems since all our steering is by mechanical linkage. Occasionally, the actuator that connects the NWS during landing will stick or burn out and you will have a free-castering nosewheel. This doesn't happen all that often.

Most of our more senior pilots loved the power steering system since it allowed for ease of maneuvering in tight spaces and for single-engine taxi. I personally hated the power steering mostly because of having to turn it off for takeoff, leaving a castering nosewheel. I like having more positive control during the takeoff roll.