Jetprop Commander Nosewheel Steering Question

[amchale]

Hi all, novice question here, but do all Tubine and Jetprop models have the toe-actuated nosewheel steering system? I read in the FlightSafety Jetprop training manual that the late model Jetprops have a different steering system, is this more of a standard system where the rudder pedals steer the nosewheel directly?

It also seems that a lot of newer modified Jetprops do not have the standard nosewheel steering switches on the control yoke and at the bottom of the throttle quadrant. Was/is there an STC that changed the steering on these newer models?

[donv]

Basically, all the piston Commanders have the nosewheel steering on the brake pedals. At the very end of Commander production, a new nosewheel steering system was implemented (allegedly because then-CEO of Gulfstream Allen Paulson couldn't taxi the old system smoothly).

This is the system you see described in the FlightSafety manual. Personally, in 30+ years of Commander flying, I have NEVER seen that system installed and functional. I don't really know what the issue was with it, but the vast majority of airplanes which had it got an STC which put them back to the old system.

Maybe Bruce or someone could elaborate on why the new system was bad, but all I know is it's very rare to see it these days.

[amchale]

Thank you for the information! Definitely seems like a confusing change to alter a system like that for the last few production models and I can see why people would want to change it back for commonality and past experience.

[Bruce Byerly]

Basically, all the piston Commanders have the nosewheel steering on the brake pedals. At the very end of Commander production, a new nosewheel steering system was implemented (allegedly because then-CEO of Gulfstream Allen Paulson couldn't taxi the old system smoothly).

This is the system you see described in the FlightSafety manual. Personally, in 30+ years of Commander flying, I have NEVER seen that system installed and functional. I don't really know what the issue was with it, but the vast majority of airplanes which had it got an STC which put them back to the old system.

Maybe Bruce or someone could elaborate on why the new system was bad, but all I know is it's very rare to see it these days.

Bad was an understatement.  I don’t know of any left but there may be a couple.  It added electric potentiometers and steered via a Mickey Mouse chain over the old hydraulic system -  unreliable and dangerous, frankly.  If you left the park/taxi switch in the wrong position, or, in case of a client I know, demonstrated the switch in flight and forgot to turn it off, you might just run it into the ditch.  The only good thing I enjoyed about it was ability to taxi easily on one engine.