ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

"Lucille"

A good day to fly

This past Saturday morning started at 55 degrees and by day's end it had warmed to 60 degrees. Not much of a temperature improvement but still above my current 50 degree minimum flying temperature..

Saturday promised to be a banner day for attending three fly-ins, all within 20 miles of Selby Aerodrome.  I was the first to arrive with my AirBike at Lawrence Alley's 91-1/2 birthday party event in Douglass (60KS). Soon about a dozen other planes arrived as well as several cars. We had lunch at noon. Then I was off to the next stop.

Selby Aerodrome (35KS) will be under new ownership begining November 1st, a 1:00 gathering was scheduled to meet the new owners, listen to their plans for the property, and share a meal of pop and pizza. About 4:00 I left for Cherokee Strip (18KS).

Something missing

After making a touch 'n go and not seeing Rick Girard who lives there, I departed for Cook Airfield (K50) near Rose Hill. Steve Logo was hosting his annual fly-in supper meal. And it was super! Anyway, upon parking my Airbike and visiting with interested spectators, I noticed something amiss with my tailwheel. It was gone! Only a wad of grass occupied the space where the wheel should be.

Looking back from where I had taxied, the tailwheel axle had left a deep furrow in the grass and a gouge in the recently poured concrete taxiway I crossed. No wonder my rollout was so short, taxiing required more power and I could barely turn!

Meeting Lucille

After walking the runway and calling people at the other runways to walk theirs, the wheel was nowhere to be found.  It must have fallen off during flight. This situation reminds me of a song popular in the '80's. I think it goes something like this: "You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel." Or was that Lucille? Regardless, I was now without a tailwheel.

The question now was, should I fly my AirBike home and then find a replacement wheel, or tie the plane down and come back later with a new wheel?  I chose to fly home.

As mentioned earlier, taxiing and turning changed the plane's performance. But I taxied to the sod runway and took off. While in the Selby Aerodrome pattern, the scenery was striking as the sun was in its last moments above the horizon and casting long shadows over the crops.

Landing at Selby Aerodrome brought the same experience as at Cook Airfield; that "tail skid" acted like one huge brake!  After shutting down at the hangar door I admired the furrow I created in the runway.  Heck, if this were Spring, I could have planted a single row of corn!

Temporary repair

Not wanting to be grounded while getting another tailwheel, I made a temporary one from wood.  That's right, two half-inch thick pieces of Birch plywood glued and screwed together with its perimeter rounded over.  A counterbore drilled on both sides to accept left-over wheel  barrow bearings and a through hole for the axle, completed the task.

This temporary tailwheel is not yet installed on my AirBike, the weather turned very sour and will remain that way for several days (sure glad I flew home to my hangar).  In the mean time I am checking several sources of replacement wheels.

For reference, Saturday's flying brought me to within 7 hours of that 1000 hour mark for my AirBike.

Paul D. Fiebich

Looks good as a permanent replacement to me!  

Maybe paint the outer circumference matt black so it looks like rubber  

You're very lucky to have so many exciting events happening within flying distance from you. Few & far apart down under.

Bruce

Congratulations on the 1000 HOURS PAUL......also a very nice wheel...

HOWEVER ...if you laminated some steel into the wood wheel it would make sparks on take off...or maybe  old angle grinder blades....for great sparks.....I know you have the smoke to go with it....hmmmm

nothing like a hot spark with loose-elle... or was that Lucille...never was a great speller

I read a book where a guy was racing around Britain...he broke his tail wheel...so he simply stole a tailwheel off another aircraft on the apron....another Idea....any suitable wheels at Selby...????..he even got caught by the owner..LOL

I think he was a rascal.....but one hell of a writer..LOL...Propellerhead..!!!

cheers Arthur

Nice writting Paul!
I think you just built a spare tire for your bike but I wouldn't keep it there because it will loose its roundness after  a few runs. After all the plastic wheel is inexpensive. Question is: Why did it happen? Did you forget to put the nut after a tail wheel service? or was the nut  finger tight for a long time until it went loose...
Many years ago, a borrowed my two seater Beaver to a friend who wanted to give a ride to his body. Fortunatelly I was  watching him during take off and we both have a radio. What was my surprise when I saw a front wheel falling down as soon as the plane departed. It was impossible for him to notice the missing wheel because he was seating on the front seat . I told him on the radio about the incident and he performed a one wheel langing so smooth that the last (inevitable) ground loop barely touch the the ground with the wing tip. Later on I learned  that a mechanich had "borrowed" from my plane a wheel nut  to buy a similar for another aircraft. It was a week day, he thougt nobody was going to use the plane and worst of all he didn't leave any notes.

Paul take a wrap of black gorilla tape around the new wheel; you will be right in vogue with the really skinny tire crowd (lol).

Am I the only one that saw that wooden wheel and immediately thought of "Tinker Toys"?    Paul, that's awesome!

Hey, thanks for all your great ideas fellows on how to make my temporary tailwheel look like a real one. You are right Scott, it does look like a Tinker Toy.  That was one of my favorite toys as a kid, maybe my tailwheel was a subtle offshoot from those early days. Years ago I fixed one of my son's Big Wheel by replacing the worn out plastic wheel with a wooden one wrapped with an old tire skin.  

Ricardo, that must have been quite an experience of someone borrowing a nut for a wheel and then not telling anyone! I am not sure why my wheel fell off, For the past 16 years the wheel was held on by two nuts tightened against each other. Maybe a Hun crept into the hangar and "tinkered with my toy?"

Not long ago, I read a book titled "Pioneer Bush Pilot-Niel Wien" (the guy who started Alaskan Airlines). He stated that during his early Alaskan bush flying days, the tail skid of his plane broke completely off.  He lashed a shovel in its place and continued flying that way until he made a real repair. I guess pilots just think outside of the box.

The replacement tailwheel still hasn't been installed and likely won't be.  Rick Girard, the guy living at Cherokee Stirp gave me a tailwheel that fits.  It is a real one.

Isn't flying, solving problems, and having friends fun?

Paul Fiebich

I think thyat 'spare' and a couple of nuts should find there way into you flight kit--behind the seat perhaps.