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While rebuilding the tail wheels for my 42 and 45 I found numerous incorrect parts and an obvious lack of past full inspection (not throwing stones here, it took a LOT of research to find what the correct parts even were!). The 42 has a Scott tailwheel and the 45 has a Maule with a solid tire. While researching I found both tailwheel designs have fans and detractors with evidence to support both positions on both brands. Many feel the Scott is too light duty for our planes (when properly assembled and maintained they are NOT) and the big complaint about the Maule seems to be a tendency to shimmy too easily (ALSO something that is an assembly and rigging problem NOT a design flaw).
A problem I have run into on the Maule is the steering springs. One of my past jobs was as a landing gear engineer for Navy aircraft and I did a lot of studying on landing gear dynamics and design for my degree. The first thing that made my hair stand on end was the number of Maule tailwheels that have compression springs. That will work fine SO LONG AS THE SPRING NEVER BOTTOMS OUT! A spring that goes solid could massively overload the gear and cause lots of damage. A tension spring, in an extreme situation, will over stretch and fail but not destroy the tail wheel. Things WILL get exciting, but not like a solid spring. The problem I have had is I can't find the original tension springs or a spec for them anywhere. Do ANY of you guys have a source for the correct tension springs (they are supposed to be different from each other!) or have the specs or a set I can get measurements from? The only hard part with reproducing the spec would be the spring constant but I can talk anyone through a simple test to measure that.
With proper assembly and parts BOTH the Scott and Maule tailwheels should work fine on our panes. I have taken a pile of photos and have a machinist who can make the missing/unavailable parts as "owner produced" parts for those who want to rebuild their gear (a good idea at annual!).
I hope to post articles on the Shinn brakes (another nightmare of home made parts!) and both tail wheel types soon. The brakes are a whole separate can of worms and it is no wonder people thing Shinn brakes are no good. They are FINE for our planes WHEN BUILT UP CORRECTLY!.
Hank
A problem I have run into on the Maule is the steering springs. One of my past jobs was as a landing gear engineer for Navy aircraft and I did a lot of studying on landing gear dynamics and design for my degree. The first thing that made my hair stand on end was the number of Maule tailwheels that have compression springs. That will work fine SO LONG AS THE SPRING NEVER BOTTOMS OUT! A spring that goes solid could massively overload the gear and cause lots of damage. A tension spring, in an extreme situation, will over stretch and fail but not destroy the tail wheel. Things WILL get exciting, but not like a solid spring. The problem I have had is I can't find the original tension springs or a spec for them anywhere. Do ANY of you guys have a source for the correct tension springs (they are supposed to be different from each other!) or have the specs or a set I can get measurements from? The only hard part with reproducing the spec would be the spring constant but I can talk anyone through a simple test to measure that.
With proper assembly and parts BOTH the Scott and Maule tailwheels should work fine on our panes. I have taken a pile of photos and have a machinist who can make the missing/unavailable parts as "owner produced" parts for those who want to rebuild their gear (a good idea at annual!).
I hope to post articles on the Shinn brakes (another nightmare of home made parts!) and both tail wheel types soon. The brakes are a whole separate can of worms and it is no wonder people thing Shinn brakes are no good. They are FINE for our planes WHEN BUILT UP CORRECTLY!.
Hank