BC- 12D tailwheel spring

[Robert Lees]

If your tail is light, then you should not have to change them yearly. Heavy is over 120#. Tim

My tailweight is 64lb, but we do a lot of landings (and I have had to repair the rudder twice in the past due to broken leaf-spring bolts and the bolts are cheap!)

[Scott]

I used silicone baffle seal material. Can glue strips together to get different thicknesses. Use superglue

[Hank Jarrett]

Moisture was what I was worried about with Leather too. No idea how old the leather was on the plane I saw with it. I was attracted to the plane because I noticed there were no jam nuts on the tail wires! I have since seen several with missing jam nuts.

[3Dreaming]

I have used fiber reinforced baffle material with good results.

[astjp2]

I tend to replace the bolts (all four of them) every annual (sometimes two, depending on usage), and I use old inner tube scrap as the "filler" around the AN4 bolted clamp just under the sternpost.
I'd be a bit nervous about using leather, because it retains a lot of moisture.

Just my opinion.
Rob

If your tail is light, then you should not have to change them yearly. Heavy is over 120#. Tim

[astjp2]

Anyone else ever seen leather pieces used? Saw it used on some planes but no idea how well it stood up with time. Available in a lot of different hardness's and thickness.

No I have not, the elements would tear it up out here. Too dry, timt

[Robert Lees]

I tend to replace the bolts (all four of them) every annual (sometimes two, depending on usage), and I use old inner tube scrap as the "filler" around the AN4 bolted clamp just under the sternpost.
I'd be a bit nervous about using leather, because it retains a lot of moisture.

Just my opinion.
Rob

[Hank Jarrett]

Anyone else ever seen leather pieces used? Saw it used on some planes but no idea how well it stood up with time. Available in a lot of different hardness's and thickness.

[astjp2]

Contact univair and get a cub one and trim it

[PA1195]

Tire sidewalls can make good packing. Find a used tire with thin rubber and cut out a chunk. There's fibers imbedded in the rubber which helps it last. If too thick try some engine baffling with imbedded fibers. It's tough stuff too and thin.

[8708]

Hi folks,
what have people used for the rubber packing around the tail wheel spring. I used a long piece of inner tube but it has not held up well. I was looking for thicker rubber but it is tough to find a long piece to do the job. Any suggestions?
Thanks! Jay

[3Dreaming]

Re: BC- 12D tailwheel spring

Jim, your set up looks good. In my opinion there is not a better non-pneumatic tail wheel than what you have right there. Tom

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: BC- 12D tailwheel spring

Hard to see which way your tail wheel is angled from your description. What you do NOT want is negative castor. Positive castor is when the pivot shaft that the tail wheel steers around is angled FORWARD at the bottom and aft at the top. The line of the wheel steering axis should lean AFT at the top.
Even with negative castor you may not get shimmy if the pivot is stiff and the springs are tight with no play in the parts of the tail wheel, but it should be set up with positive castor so it doesn't start to shimmy when wear starts.
Hank

The wear will exceed the dampening force on the landing with the most ramp rooks watching your landing. Just tell them you needed to use the bathroom and wanted to get off the runway as fast as possible.

[Jim K]

Re: BC- 12D tailwheel spring

Hank, what do you think of the angle of the shaft being shifted towards the rear from vertical?
Plane seems to handle ok with no shimmy.

Jim

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: BC- 12D tailwheel spring

I like the shackles on the steering arms. If you hook the ends of the tension springs like they did originally the springs wear groves in the steering arms.
Hank