I’m pretty new to Cirrus aircrafts but have roughly 4K hours (and CFI) on other GA machines. I must admit that I find the SR20 really really difficult to taxi! I know it got the free nosewheel but on the 20 that I’m flying it’s almost impossible just to taxi straight. When doing turns you have to be almost at a standstill.
Wondering if there is something rigged wrong on this specific tailnumber or its just how a Cirrus is?
Unfortunately there is very few other SR’s in Denmark so its hard to get a “second opinion”.
I find that I have to frequently apply brakes to keep my 22T straight. It also really depends on how the wind is striking the tail. I think that this is not terribly uncommon, but I don’t seem to remember having to apply brakes as much in the Diamond DA20’s or DA40’s that I flew that also have castering nose wheels.
Also, a few months ago, I had to replace my brake disks, pads and seals ($$$) because after a long taxi with brake application to keep it straight, the brakes overheated and a pad and rotor fused. This looks like it was caused by my castering nosewheel being too tight. Evidently some kind of washer got corroded.
Rasmus;
Very few of our 8000 or so members visit the “Guest” side of the forum. As a Cirrus Pilot, you might get many more responses if you join and ask the question of the overall membership.
That said, you didn’t say that you were an “owner” so I can’t ask if you have a “pre-buy” but you may be riding the brakes unintentionally. As I’m sure that you know, the nose wheel is NOT connected to the rudder. Like the Tiger or L39, the nose wheel is a free castor nose wheel. The right or left bake is used to steer the aircraft.
I’m curious how many Cirrus hours you have, Rasmus? It definitely takes some getting used to but, once mastered, you should be able to taxi just as well as in any other plane.
I was taught to “jab” the brakes. Once the plane is turning it will continue on that turn until i jab the opposite brake. I find that when I get to a really slow speed in the turn like you describe, it’s the result of me holding the brake longer than necessary. You may want to try 1 - 2 second medium strength type jabs and see how that does. Of course high wind days will mean frequent jabbing. In those cases, I typically intentionally over shoot the centerline and let the wind drift me back across to reduce the braking application (sort of how those nose high tail draggers s-turn back and forth on the taxiway so they can see).
Of course the nosewheel should be checked as others have mentioned to eliminate that.
That was the ticket for me. As long as safety permits on straightaways, if you keep your speed up so the rudder is effective you don’t need to use the brakes.
Another piece of advice (that actually came from Gordon as well!) is always taxy with your heels on the floor as that stops you from riding the brakes and avoids the risk of overheating them.
That piece of advice should be universal for all rudder pedals that have brakes applied via the top of the rudder pedals. Your entire foot should never be on the rudders unless you want to use the brakes.
When I bought my first Cirrus it took me over 30 minutes to taxi to the runway with my instructor. Now I don’t even think about it. You’ll get used to it!
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