Is your tailwheel steering secure?

[VictorBravo]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Thanks to Rob Lees' timely reminder, I installed "mousing" with safety wire to my tailwheel connectors today.

That's one more failure point eliminated from becoming a possibility, one more way for my airplane to be damaged that now cannot happen.

The cost was something like a hundredth of a penny's worth of wire, and 10 minutes of my time. That's a GOOD bargain!

[TimHicks]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Does most everyone have compression springs on their tailwheel? My BC-12 has regular tension springs. Is this risky? Should I change to compression springs? If not, how do I "mouse" the tension springs?

[Frank DeBartolo]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

I have regular tension springs. These are scott springs on a Maule tailwheel. After appx 400 hours on the T-Craft, no shimmy and I used the pictures on the forum to do the mousing--safety wire is still good. I had to replace the safety wire a couple times when I had to remove the tailwheel for new tailwheel springs and other maintenance, but the mousing stayed till I removed it. Checking the springs is part of my preflight. I took my time to mouse the tail wheel springs--and no problems. I fly appx 70-100 hours per year and land on hard surface and grass and no problems with the tailwheel. I did purchase a new Maule tailwheel right after purchasing my BC12-D. That may be why I don't have any problems with the tailwheel. Maule costs appx 240 bucks. Tailwheel problems have not plagued me. I can't complain.

Frank D
N43684

[NY86]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

I'm not at all comfortable with compression springs in this application. A compression spring has a finite limit of give after which it is completely rigid. On other aircraft types I've seen bent steering arms and bent rudder bellcranks from the springs bottoming out. Flyer beware!

[gnflyn]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Moused my springs today after flying with .060 soft wire. Worked great, strangely enough one of the links was as in the first photo and the other reversed, I reversed the backwards one and moused both. Am feeling much better as to security there. I did take the tail of the wire and run it back to the spring loop so the mousing couldn't come forward and slip off links.
Today was wonderful, how lucky I am to just decide to go up to airport and fly, was cool and super climb as well as cavu.
Life is is good for Tcraft owner/pilot......

[mohawktipi]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

I just installed compression springs on my L2. I cannot get the slack out of them. I used the supplied links and no chain and I still have loose springs. Will this cause shimmy?

Thanks

[bashibazouk]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Robert--

I was going to ask if the compression-type springs from Aircraft Spruce were useable:



Yours look very similar. I'll "mouse" my clips when I put them on. Thanks!

Josh

NC24369

[Robert Lees]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

I got mine from Aircraft Spruce, Josh.

Tom, your geometry might be different in the L2...ask Ron Greene for his opinion.

[gnflyn]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

The spirngs (compression type) on my BC-12 are exactly like the photo ones.
My clips attach directly to the rudder arm, no chain.

[MNJoe]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

I had a set up shown in josh's photo. The end result was damage in excess of $9000.00 when the rings (I'll call them hog rings?) both failed along with the safety wires and the airplane ended up in a snow bank on its nose. Maule does not supply that style anymore because they have a low pull apart force rating so I was told.

Joe

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Taylorcraft used shorter springs than most, I use tension only, standard clips and chain is vital. It keeps things from going into a column and really messing up the steering. If I can get my Volunteers around here to hunt up the drawing , it can be posted.

[bashibazouk]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Thanks, Forrest. Where can I find some of the correct ones?

Josh

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Rumor has it that some people buy commercial ones ( Lowe's , Home Depot or Wag-Aero. Univair) I would have to measure ones in the shop tomorrow. Then cut them in half with a chisel, hammer, anvil or vise. bend the last loop out and there you go.

[bashibazouk]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

Great! My local Lowe's has a very special TSO'd section. It's amazing what they've got there!!

Thanks,

Josh

[rdwater]

Re: Is your tailwheel steering secure?

My instructor says that my tail springs are way too strong, giving too much steering authority. I'm low-time in tail wheels and don't know any better. We taxied a friend's T-craft and the springs were much weaker.

As a descriptive example, taxiing at a walking pace and giving full petal movement, in my plane we get instant response, in my friend's plane I count to one before it starts to turn. Which is as it should be?

Does anyone have the proper spring constant (inches displacement per force applied) for our spring?

Thanks, Bob