Gyro On Nose Wheel
 

I use a Gyro on the Rudder of a Tail Dragger for Take offs, works great; I was thinking of putting one on the nose wheel of a B-25; and only on the nose wheel and not the rudder as well; how effective would this be on take offs? my thoughts were that I wouldn't have to worry about shutting the Gyro off right away as it would not be operating the rudder making flying a little tricky. Thanks.

RE: Gyro On Nose Wheel
 

A simple gyro on rudder works well indeed for the problem of a takeoff waltz due to the tendency for engines to spool up unevenly.

For two of my multis I have used a simple Hobbico all purpose gyro (I think now discontinued)
single axis of course and single imput/output plugs. No inflight shutoff or gain adjustment (gain adjustment only on the ground).

The two I use them in are one of my wing P-38's for warbird racing and a four engine Kadet. Takeoff stability was remarkably improved with the gyro and there is no need to shut it off in flight, In fact doing so would negate one of the advantages of the gyro. This advantage is the gyros ability to by you a few critcal seconds decision time to identify a lost engine and react with the proper imput which is always rudder into the good engine (this is in addition to other actions such as a power reduction among other things if warrented).

I would not be inclined to isolate the gyro on the nosewheel only simply because you will lose the added benefit. You never even realize the gyro is on if it is adjusted anywhere near right. Only if you use excessive gain will you realize a slight hunting on the vertical axis at high speed, If so slow down, land and reduce the gain slightly. On the Hobbico the gain somewhere around 50% was right on.

Bottom line for me is they work well and keep it simple.

My current project is an airplane with six wing mounted engines and I may add one to this also.

John

RE: Gyro On Nose Wheel
 

Gyro on nose steering only is very frecuently done for turbine jets. Helps secure straigth take-off, as this engines have a delay in spooling up/down.
Also helps with keeping the model straight in uneven braking