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Tell me about full swivel tailwheel options.

00Dan

Well Known Member
I have an old Van’s bent tail spring non-swiveling tailwheel. Looking at upgrade options I see basically four options for the fork, a couple tailspring options, and some spring choices.

For the fork, I see the Van’s fork, the Doug Bell, the Screaming Eagle, and the JD Air. All three aftermarket options seem to achieve the goal of ground clearance, is there any clear distinction between the three or is it basically cosmetic?

On the tail spring, I’ve read about modifying the bent spring to accommodate the new mount bracket. I’ve also seen buying a new one, but that requires match drilling. Is there a consensus on which is the easier was to go for a retrofit? (I’m excluding the titanium spring from my options based on price).

As for the springs, is the rocket style link worth it? Does it provide any benefits over traditional two-spring setup?
 
I recently did this on an old RV-6. Used JD Air fork, new spring, and steering link instead of chains.
Match drilling the new spring was a challenge, as the hole was not square/ perpendicular, and also off center. Ended up using a bridgeport mill with laser alignment setup to get the holes correct.
Some say the steering link is too twitchy, and is does make tailwheel steering more responsive, but one can adapt to it.
 
Here's my bell tailwheel with a steering link in action. The steering link is pretty twitchy. I've gotten used to it, and it's probably good that it requires real focus since you should never relax until all the parts stop moving.

https://youtu.be/s1EIVfb8boo
 
When the full swivel first became an option the mod was to cut off the bent portion and machine the end to fit the new tail wheel mount. I don't see why that wouldn't still work.
 
I converted my 4 with the bent tailspring to full swivel. Vans tech support sent me a drawing for the spring mod. I used the Bell fork with the stock springs and a Flyboys Delux tailwheel, which has better bearings and is a bit lighter than the stock TW.
 
I just did this and one stop shopped at Flyboy’s. I cut and reused the old tail spring.
Screaming eagle yoke, light weight wheel, adapter kit.
Instructions were easy to follow.
Old tail spring came out with patience and ACF-50.
No Rocket link experience. I like rudder to be my primary authority.
Good luck!
 
Rocket link

I cut off my original non full swivel bent spring and installed the JD Air tailwheel yoke and Rocket steering link. Absolutely love both. The rocket link means there is no slop during ground taxi. You move the rudder pedals only the small amounts required for steering with the tail down during taxi. The steering is very precise.
 
Flyboys condor air tire and rocket link is my recommendation. The air tire is so much more quiet and one great benefit of the rocket link is rudder, when parked, stays put as it is not free swivel so wind does not blow it around.
 
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