Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

[paulp]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Well Tribe,

another attempt at attaching an attachment:

[paulp]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Good lord, I have either attached something or have shut down a power grid!!!!

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

O.K. Ron, what year and model motorcycle? This is a shot of me and some friends of mine at the four corners run a few years back the red Suzuki that I'm standing behind is mine.

[mhorowit]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Good lord, I have either attached something or have shut down a power grid!!!!

My refrigerator light dimmed! - Mike

[mhorowit]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Good lord, I have either attached something or have shut down a power grid!!!!

Paul - on the second drawing:
1. Where the 13 1/4" measurement and the 12" measurement meet on the handle, it is unclear what's at that point.

2. The bolts that feed thru the handle and lift the tailwheel are 6" apart and it appears they are both on the handle (as opposed to one being on the handle and the other on the short (4 3/4") piece). When you lift and pull, does the wheel tend to come out of the "bolt cradle" and roll towards the axle? - Mike

[paulp]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Howdy Mike,

The 12"/13.5" measurement is to determine the angle of the 41/2 piece. Measure back from the aft edge of the 4 1/2 in piece a distance of 12". Then,
the distance from the top, aft edge of the 4 1/2 and the distance to the top of the frame will be 13 1/2".

The carriage holes are in the frame/handle. The first one is about 3/4-1" back from the 41/2 nose piece. The distance between the holes is 6" center to center. This seems to work for me and I have the solid Scott tail wheel.

Sorry that my draftmenship is so poor but I made this thing up as I went along. I modified the one that I took the measurements from because I didn't want to infringe on anyone. I am going to try to get a picture and get it posted in a day or two. I think that would help in visualizing this gadget.

I am attempting to attach another drawing-Hope it works!!!

[paulp]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Well, I'm going to try one more time! Where is the 12 yr old when you need her?

[paulp]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Mike,

Sorry, I forgot about your tail wheel question. The tail wheel tends to remain between the the two bolts even over a bump or on fairly rough ground. I can rotate the aircraft 360 deg with little lateral movement of either of the mains.

This thing is absurdly easy to build and doesn't cost much.(Of course, I say that now that I've built one!) It really doesn't take much and makes for an interesting project that is highly useful.

If anyone has any other questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer same.

Interesting note: Henery Ford once said "If you think you can or you think you can't- it's ok because you'll be right either way."

[mhorowit]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Well, I'm going to try one more time! Where is the 12 yr old when you need her?

I think you have brought the art of posting thumbnails to a heretofore unforseen plateau - Mike

[jrzangger]

Re: Tailwheel carriage, steering thingie??

Isn't that what full swivel tail wheels are for?!!

My dad's hangar was built to house a Swift with a much shorter wingspan than the Taylorcraft. He has used the technique described by Rob Lee to put the Taylorcraft in. I think it's more than 22' though! He also has some community hangars that hold three planes and it's easier to swing the tail wheel planes around with this technique than other maneuvering.

No tailwheel tail draggers used either!