What is a typical nose gear shimmy damper issue?

• A. Leakage or reduced damping leading to higher nose-wheel oscillations.
• B. Excessive tire wear causing camber changes.
• C. Hydraulic crossfeed activation.
• D. Ice buildup on landing gear struts.

Answer: (A)

The nose gear shimmy damper’s role is to dampen the side-to-side, yaw-like motion of the nose wheel during ground operations. When the damper leaks hydraulic fluid or its internals wear, its damping ability decreases. With less resistance to rapid steering movements, the nose wheel can start oscillating with larger amplitude—what we call a shimmy. That increased oscillation is the hallmark of a typical shimmy damper fault, so leakage or reduced damping is the best match for the issue described.

Other options don’t fit because they point to problems not directly tied to the damper’s damping action: excessive tire wear and camber changes relate to tire geometry rather than damping; hydraulic crossfeed is about fluid routing in the system, not nose gear oscillations; ice buildup on the struts would affect weight and drag more broadly and isn’t the typical damper fault.