Best Tailwheel for dirt/grass

Building a RV7 QB and have been told there are. Better options for off pavement tailwheel ops. Any info appreciated as I'm first time RV builder but have built/rebuilt a few dozen tube and rag cub type taildraggers.
Thank you
Dave

FWIW, I've been flying RV's off grass almost exclusively since 1994, and I've never seen any need to change from the stock Van's tailwheel. Both the -4's I've owned had/have the old style non-breakaway tailwheels.

Charlie

My RV-8 came with an Aviation Products tailwheel and a 6 inch wheel. It's very robust. Has a 5/8 inch axel. Here's a link:

http://www.apitailwheels.com/products/products.html

I'm happy with it.

Is good good enough?

The Van's product is exceptional. I think we all agree with that. That being said, we all know there are certain aspects of the design that could use improvement.

One of those items is the tail wheel fork. Is the current design adequate? Yes.
Can it be improved? Definitely.

Check out the alternatives. You'll find some really nicely designed tail wheel forks.

Matco

If you are operating only off grass strips the Matco pneumatic tailwheel solution may work for you. People seem to have had mixed results with it, particularly with regard to holding pressure and wear rates when used on sealed surfaces. See link below.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=38859&page=3
Tom.

The issue isn't so much the wheel as it is the fork. The standard fork can work as a tail hook should you drop it in a hole due to its vertical portion in front of the wheel.

The solution is to install a Bell fork like this:


(Click to enlarge)

One other thing I wish I had done was to order custom gear legs with longer axles so I could use 6" tires in place of the standard 5"×500 tires. That should be a low cost upgrade and the tires should still fit in the standard wheel pants.

Chkaharyer99 said:

My RV-8 came with an Aviation Products tailwheel and a 6 inch wheel. It's very robust. Has a 5/8 inch axel. Here's a link:

http://www.apitailwheels.com/products/products.html

I'm happy with it.

Click to expand...

Another Aviation Products satisfied customer here!

I put a Bell on my RV-4 after flying the Idaho mountains. I liked it much better than the standard Van's fork that was on the plane when I purchased it. It gave me better ground clearance and I worried less about the fork catching something on the ground.

YMMV

AG-pilot said:

Building a RV7 QB and have been told there are. Better options for off pavement tailwheel ops. Any info appreciated as I'm first time RV builder but have built/rebuilt a few dozen tube and rag cub type taildraggers. Thank you Dave

Click to expand...

Tailwheels live in a grit storm, so most of them eventually develop a worn pivot shaft, and/or an oval bore in the yoke. A JDAir tailwheel has rolling element bearings in the yoke, which should improve that particular wear problem. It certainly improves steering feel.

There is no seal at the top, under the arm, so dirt still finds it way into the pin area. It has to come apart for regular cleaning just like any other.

http://www.jdair.com/content/TW YOKE ASSM.PDF

On another front...try to select a tailwheel with the shortest practical dimension between the tire contact point and the tapered spring's centerline. A long arm here has two effects, neither desirable. First, the longer arm increases torsional twisting of the tapered spring with every steering correction, making runway manners less friendly. Second, it increases loading on the two little AN3 bolts that attach the yoke to the spring, and the AN4 at the forward end of the spring.

Geometry exaggerated for clarity:

I'm using the Condor tailwheel from Flyboys. 8" diameter tire instead of 6" and a bell-style fork. Larger tire rolls better over obstacles. No issues with odd wear etc.

Greg

We have the Screaming Eagle and the Bell fork in stock and ready to go. Both offer outstanding performance on dirt, pavement, etc.