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No tailwheel steering chains/ links?

Eric Minnis

Well Known Member
Wondering if anyone is operating their tailwheel RV without any steering linkage? My Giles 202 and most all the MXS/ MX2 time I have is with an API 4" tailwheel in trail with no linkage. It worked great on those airplanes but they may have a good bit more rudder authority. Thanks in advance.
 
Pitts

My first landing in that Pitts was pretty exciting. After we handed iver the cashiers check it was a rush to get it home before dark. Taxiing out I could tell something wasnt right but I attributed that to just being a strange aircraft to me.

Arrived home field just as the sun dropped below the horizon. Landing on a very wide paved runway at dusk. Three pointed and quickly figured out that I could steer left but not right. It was pretty sporty but I managed to keep it on the runway. I think it was a Scott 2000 tailwheel and the steering mechanism was broken and only could turn left.

That plane had small rudder, 180 hp big fp metal prop bungy cord gear
Not for the beginner!!
And no Id never try that one free castoring.
Cm
 
I had a Scott 2000 pass me on the runway one time, came right off the rim. The API was the secret to better Pitts landings. Good times for sure.
 
I have a locking tailwheel on the Rocket and I've flown it plenty of times unlocked. No issues except for taxi with a strong crosswind can be annoying. The RV-8 tailwheel unlocks on landing so often I just dont count on it anymore - also no issue.
 
Yes when I was "racing" my RV4, I removed the TW steering chains/springs.

I also removed the full catering tail wheel assembly and installed a tiny roller blade wheel and free castering assembly made from thin wall steel. This 0f course to reduce drag (tiny reduction in drag but looked cool). I had no operational issues, but did this config infrequently.

I love tail wheel steering for every day flying. With that said the RV's are such as docile flying airplanes a free castering tail wheel is very doable except for anything over light crosswind conditions.

I assume extra brake wear is to be expected. RV's stock brakes are adequate for normal use, but differential braking would increase the wear, heat and maintenance. It depends on how much taxing you do.

Total weight savings removing all the cables would be several pounds.

However I would not eliminate it. It could / maybe / might result in ground handling issues under some conditions. It would be way less fun on takeoff, landing roll out, and taxiing in windy conditions.
 
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Shopping Cart Wheels

Lots of vintage taildraggers had free swiveling tailwheels or fixed tail skids... and no brakes. And they rarely landed on hard surface runways. And they generally were able to land into the wind. And they got on their backs more often than the old timers admit. We had a Stampe and a Bücker on the airport with swiveling tailwheels. Pilots were always briefed on them and it was OK, but those airplanes had good Cleveland brakes.
I used to work on Pitts a LOT. The Haigh lockable/swivel tailwheels were pretty popular in those days. They worked pretty well most of the time. The pitfall was in forgetting to lock the tailwheel on takeoff, which never seemed to be a problem, until the pilot remembered that he'd forgotten after takeoff. Naturally wanting it to be locked for landing, then the pilot would put the handle in the locked position. Again, not a problem if the tailwheel was trailing fairly straight and the locking thingy could go into the slot. But if it was turned more than about 50 degrees, the lock would actually lock the tailwheel into a big turn. The landing after making this misteak went very badly. One time, the guy in the other airplane in formation spotted it and saved his buddy a lot of grief. A popular mod was adding an aluminum disc to the top of the swively bit to prevent this.
All this said, i don't think I'd put a free swiveling tailwheel on our RV-6.
 
All this said, i don't think I'd put a free swiveling tailwheel on our RV-6.

Neither will I :D
Any kind of serious crosscountry flying will, one day or another, require all controllability, including that tailwheel steering...

My tale, here goes:
Some 30 years ago, whilst stationed in Germany, got trusted to fly the Focke Wulf FW44 Stieglitz. Pre 2nd WW design with a nice BMW radial, spitting oil in your face thanks to the lack of rocker covers. Converted from skid to a free castoring tailwheel. Very nice and effective flight controls. Visibility... well, biplane like.
Had fun for some 10+ hours locally before venturing to some other strips.
Bad Durkheim, 600m of concrete... where thanks to some crosswind, turbulence and a lousy landing, I came this close to ruining this museum piece :eek:
In fact, I just managed to keep it on the concrete, waving from one edge to the other probably covering twice the runway length... once stopped my passenger jumps out in the breeze and shouts „hey, that was a super landing!“, whilst jelly legs and brown underwear kept me seated in the pit for a couple of minutes... I’ll sure never forget this one :eek:
 
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Never seen this concept written up, but here's what I think is the issue...

On landing, while you still have airflow over the rudder, you might end up using half rudder, say, for aerodynamic correction. But, with the tailwheel on the ground, you'll only use a very small amount of deflection for steering on rollout.

There's the rub -- lots of aerodynamic rudder, small amounts of tailwheel steering.

What steering chains can do is let you put in a bunch of rudder before getting any tailwheel deflection. Solid steering rods don't let you do this.

I might be wrong, but at least it's well thought out!
 
On the ramp with the tail wheel straight, the rudder is 'locked' which keeps it from flopping around in the wind. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably remove those pesky chains.
 
We tried it on our 8. I wouldn't recommend it. Our 8 seems to lose a lot of rudder effectiveness when the tail comes down, forcing you onto the brakes. That's all fine and dandy until you lose a brake....which happened to me at the absolute worst moment. I'll spare you the story, but I will tell you that it's not often a pilot can say he groundlooped an airplane in 2 different directions on the same landing.

I put the steering link back on when I got home.
 
Solid steering rods don't let you do this.

I might be wrong, but at least it's well thought out!

I have a little tailwheel airplane that has a fixed "not full-caster" tailwheel with a rigid steering link. The secret is in the geometry.

With full rudder, you get about 45 degrees of t/w steering each way, and no more. Even so, if I use brakes to pedal turn (like out of the runup area), I can still out-turn most tri-gear. Only a tail dragger with a castering tail wheel can pedal turn tighter than me.
 
On my -7 I have had the steering pin not lock in, so effectively making the tailwheel free.
It’s normally not much of a issue, just a little more brake required at low speed. The only time it’s a pain is taxing cross wind.
 
What's the advantage of having a non steerable tailwheel? besides saving a little weight and drag...
 
On the MX and Giles it just worked better. To me, the RV is even easier on the ground so I figured it may be a good fit.

Never had ground handling issues and a little differential braking took care of taxiing ops.

The one drawback I am realizing is the tendency for RV engine mounts to crack. This method obviously requires a bit more differential braking action when taxiing so may increase the potential for cracks.
 
Redundancy?

If the brakes break, the tailwheel steers. If the steering linkages break, the brakes work. I realize sometimes both are needed though.

Say that 5 times fast :D
 
Lots of vintage taildraggers had free swiveling tailwheels or fixed tail skids... and no brakes. And they rarely landed on hard surface runways......
Yep and people use to have a horse and buggy, but not trading in my car for one.... Tail skids it is... :D There were ground loops Oh plenty back in the good ol days, to amplify your point. Also many air fields were big square fields and you landed into the wind... all ways... Tail skids was for soft fields... but sure you could land on hard surface with a skid...
 
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