F/A-18C nose wheel steering

Hi, sorry for tsa potentially dumb question.

Will F/A-18C have two mode of nose wheel steering? (HI and LOW like the AV8B)

If yes, where is the switch to choose between two modes?

Thank you so much

Yes.

Paddle switch in the stick base i think.

Yep.

thank you so much

Yes and You must hold NWS for turns on Hi position.

Very useful for carrier ops on the deck.

ok, so it's not an on/off command, like a-10c. but you have to hold button to engage NWS? like F5?

No. When you want to steer in NWS-HI mode you have to hold it.

So, single press of the button will engage low NWS. Holding the same button will engage HI mode, and single press of the disengage paddle will disengage NWS at all.

It's correct?

IIRC the HI mode is only avilable if your wings are folded.

So, single press of the button will engage low NWS. Holding the same button will engage HI mode, and single press of the disengage paddle will disengage NWS at all.

It's correct?

Correct

IIRC the HI mode is only avilable if your wings are folded.

Nope.

2.10.2 Nosewheel Steering System. The nosewheel steering system is a combination shimmy damper and dual mode steering system. It is electrically controlled by two switches on the stick grip and hydromechanically operated through inputs from the rudder pedals and flight control computers. With the flight control computers operating, momentarily pressing the nosewheel steering button activates and engages nosewheel steering in the low mode (±16°) and NWS is displayed on the HUD. Holding the nosewheel steering button pressed selects the high mode (±75°) and NWS HI is displayed on the HUD. With the wing handle unlocked and nosewheel steering in the low mode, pressing the nosewheel steering button causes the nosewheel steering to go to the high mode where it remains without holding the button pressed. Momentarily pressing the autopilot disengage switch (paddle switch) disengages nosewheel steering until reengaged by the nosewheel steering button. If the launch bar is extended, nosewheel steering is disengaged, however, the low mode may be engaged by pressing and holding the nosewheel steering button. On the ground, nosewheel steering is disengaged when power is removed fromthe aircraft. Nosewheel steering is also disengaged with weight off the nose gear. During landing, nosewheel steering is automatically engaged in the low mode with weight on the nose gear.

NWS also in HIGH with the wings folded, makes moving on the deck easier :thumbup:

IIRC the HI mode is only avilable if your wings are folded.

You can use Hi Mode w/o Wings being folded, when wings are folded, you should be locked in hi mode.

2.8.2.1 NWS Engagement/Disengagement. With WonW, manual NWS engagement is provided by

actuation of the NWS/undesignate button. The method required to engage each of the two NWS

modes (low and high) is dependent on wing lock/unlock status.

 

With the wings spread and locked and NWS disengaged, the first momentary press and release of the

NWS button engages full-time NWS (low). NWS HI is engaged by subsequent press and hold of the

NWS button. With NWS disengaged, press and hold for greater than 1 second also engages NWS HI.

If the NWS button is released, the system reverts to NWS (low).

 

With the wings unlocked and NWS disengaged, the first momentary press and release of the NWS

button still engages full-time NWS (low). However, subsequent press and release engages full-time

NWS HI, providing hands-free NWS HI capability for operations in the carrier environment. If the

wings are subsequently spread and locked, NWS reverts to the low mode.

 

During landing, full-time NWS (low) is automatically engaged when the nose landing gear and at

least one main landing gear transition to WonW. If NWS is engaged with both HYD 2A and 2B failures,

the NWS or NWS HI cue will flash in the HUD as an indication that APU accumulator pressure is

depleting.

 

NWS is manually disengaged by pressing the paddle switch. NWS is automatically disengaged for

catapult launch, when the launch bar is extended. With the launch bar extended, NWS (low) can be

momentarily engaged to position the launch bar by press and hold of the NWS button. Additionally,

NWS is automatically disengaged when the nose landing gear transitions to WoffW during takeoff or

when power is removed from the FCCs.

Trying to figure out how to program this switch on an X65. Wish we had the commands, I could start trying to test some ideas I have... In that respect in the aircraft after turning off NWS it should always start in low the next time, correct?

Trying to figure out how to program this switch on an X65. Wish we had the commands, I could start trying to test some ideas I have... In that respect in the aircraft after turning off NWS it should always start in low the next time, correct?

My guess is that all we need to do is assign a button on the joystick to the equivalent button on the HOTAS. That's how it has worked on previous modules (such as the A-10); we don't need to program the various functionality.

Just assign the button, and the module takes care of the rest of the logic for us. :)

(I'm assuming)

Is this normal that HI Mode will totally been disabled once paddel switch was pulled? I was able to turn Hi and accidently pulled the paddel, from that Moment on I wasn´t able to turn hi again...its a bit odd. How can I make it turn Hi again?

It also doesnt matter whether I set the Hook bypass on field or carrier, I´m no more able to trun hi.

EDIT: solved the issue (Thanks to NATOOPS :) ). I had the launchbar extended, thats why HI Mode was locked

IIRC the HI mode is only avilable if your wings are folded.

IDK about real life but it works with wings down. Essentially works exactly like NWS button in the F-15.

Is there any way to toggle Hi gain NWS so you don't have to hold down the "S" key?

Is there any way to toggle Hi gain NWS so you don't have to hold down the "S" key?

Fold your wings

OK I'll test that now thanks

IIRC the HI mode is only avilable if your wings are folded.

This is not true, at least as implemented in the current game (don't know about RL).

This is not true, at least as implemented in the current game (don't know about RL).

That post is over a month old and has been addressed already

Is there any way to toggle Hi gain NWS so you don't have to hold down the "S" key?

Fold your wings

It works!! Thanks!!! These are the little things you miss when reading the manual.

Well, I tried it now on the Stennis while practicing carrier starts and I can confirm that it does NOT work for me:

1) Cold and Dark startup as per procedure

2) Wings are folded

3) Chocks removed

4) Apply a little throttle with "Num +"

5) Press "X" (for rudder) and "S" at the same time.

The result: falling off the deck because of only low gain NWS.

What can I do to fix it?

With the wings folded, pressing the NWS button once will put the steering into LO mode, pressing the button again will put it into HI mode and leave it there until the wings are spread or the pilot disengages NWS.

With the wings unfolded, pressing the NWS button once will put the steering into LO mode, holding the button will put it into HI mode as long as it's held down, releasing the button will go back to LO mode.