<< A comment worth adding to the tailwheel mod saga in general (not to
this posting in particular) is that we at Europa carried out a lot of
taxiing/ take-off/ landing trials with various geometries of tailwheel
assy, some of which were calculated and others which were developed from
the trials. The final design is a result of all these trials and the
continuing experience being gained on both of our mono-wheel aircraft.
This is not to say that other solutions won't work, but bear in mind
that somewhere the theory has to stop and the practical take over.
Regards - Andy >>
I may be totally out of place sending this as I have bought nothing as of
yet.
However, after reading so much about the tailwheel subject , I have been
thinking of a way to solve some of the concerns set forth.
Take two pieces, a tube and a rod that fits snugly inside the tube. Cut
the tube at an angle (to be determined by experimentation, (and grease the
joint)). Attach one end of the tube to the bottom half of the rod, the bottom
of this to the wheel's axle bracket. Fit the top of the rod through the
remaining tube. Place a compressed spring onto the remaining upper rod with a
securing device on the end. Fit the upper tube section through a pivot bobbin
and secure it from vertical movement, then add a means of turning it with the
rudder pedals. Unless a great enough side force is applied, it will steer the
plane. If too great a side force is applied, the wheel can turn (as much as
360 without damage) before anything else gets bent, and return to 0
deflection as soon as the side force is removed.
Comments welcome.
Dave Faust
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