ORIGINAL: opjose
ORIGINAL: Stick Jammer
Original: opjose
A harder ( non foam ) nose wheel will help keep the nose from being "pressed" down during takeoff.
With a slightly positive AOA the nose wheel should not be "pressed" at all unless the pilot is holding down elevator during the takeoff roll.
Even with one, the nose does get pressed "down" because of the leverage force of the engine.
We've seen it in several pictures taken of my Bobcat during takeoff. I changed the nose wheel out to something a bit harder to prevent this.
I would tend to believe this is normal behavior for a foam wheel rolling at speed. If the nose was getting pushed down that hard the plane would likely never leave the ground. Either way, I can't see a foam wheel changing the AOA enough to matter.