ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Has anyone used a tail wheel like the one in the photo?  When I received it from Team MiniMax the nut at the top was tight and the wheel would not turn.  To get it to turn I need to loosen the nut to the point that the fork is wobbly and that doesn't seem right. Am I missing something here?

We got the exact same tail wheel from them. Too loose. I got a thin piece of brass tubing from a hobby shop and made a insert into the bearing tube. Besure you use a nylon lock nut on top. The only other way to fix it wound be to  cut off the bearing tube and weld a new tube with a smaller hole in it or cut the bolt off and go with a larger one. Also that steel spring is too heavy. I ran a aluminum one for 20 years I got from Wayne back in the 90's.

Hey Giacomo

Another alternative is to pin the nut in just the right position.

There's a couple of other points on tailwheel generally you may find of interest.

Firstly, if you use the standard offset bar/pushrod system as per drawings, you get a change in geometry as the back end bounces. This leads to uncommanded steering inputs on landing. To resolve this, many Max builders have fitted a double bar at the tailwheel, connected via springs to a double ended steering bar inside the fuse. See posts 279 - 283 on my build thread http://www.lonesomebuzzards.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1409444380/s-270/.   I subsequently replaced those big heavy springs with lighter ones. System worked much better than standard.

Secondly, my steel rear spring was rubbish. I don't believe it had been heat treated to make it springy. Even on taxying, before I flew, it just straightened up, & was easily bent back to shape. With the the standard tailwheel pushrod setup, this leads to a permanent stearing input. Plus, that great big slab of steel is horrifically heavy.

I replaced it with my own composite spring, which was way lighter & worked well (see photos). If you don't want to do this (it's quite easy), George used to sell composite springs. Someone will have his details.

https://curedcomposites.com/sale.html    for fiberglass (composite) parts and more.

Lynn

Thank-you all for the advise.  I don't really like the spring I got from Team.  I have a comparatively light engine (MZ201) and I probably can't afford all that weight at the back, although it is still early for me to do a proper W&B.  I really like what Bruce has done, but with zero experience with fiberglass or composite material I'm reluctant to go that way (I would like to fly my Mini Max in my lifetime). The Carbon fiber/fiberglass tail wheel spring shown in curedcomposites website seem a good option, but they haven't responded to the email I sent to 'sychrovsky@mindspring.com'.  Does anyone knows if they are still in business and how to contact them?

That email address looks good.
I had bought some items from him in Jan 2021.

He is sometimes a bit slow to respond to email;
I suspect this may not be his fulltime day-job.

But his product was good, and his shipping rates were reasonable -
at least for domestic shipping.