Here's a copy of the nice response I received from Brent Anderson regarding the Tail Lynx:
Thanks for your query about Tail Lynx
The idea for this product was developed after the first year and a half of flying my RV-4. I took an unusual approach to engine cooling in the quest for flight efficiency and decided to fly before getting my plane painted (in case I needed to change something that would affect the paint job). When I began working on paint prep, I was disappointed to see that my stock tail springs were already rusting. I was determined not to just put these back on a freshly painted plane, so I conjured up the design and made the first Tail Lynx prototypes, which are still on my plane to this day (now over two decades later). My friends started bugging me about making some for them and I eventually relented. I have been named as an inventor or co-inventor on a number of designs over my 40+ year career in Design Engineering, but they were always as an employee for some corporation. The reward was always a $1 dollar bill and a pat on the back. I thought I should at least get 1 patent for myself and the Tail Lynx patent was it. It was a very nice feather in my hat.... a very expensive feather I might add... and I never wear that hat anymore... and the patent has expired.
Tail Lynx became quite popular over the roughly 17 years of production and far more were produced than I had first imagined. In recent years, however, orders declined and have reached the point where continued production is not justified. Therefore the decision was made to retire the product. Van's Aircraft made a last time buy late in 2019, which justified the final production run and it appears they have recently stocked out.
For those of you who are existing customers, rest assured that you will be supported for a number of years to come. I will continue to supply replacement tongue fittings to those who don't end up with the amount of slack that they wish. Other parts are rarely ordered, so will not be supported.
Materials and AN hardware that existing customers might need are readily available from Aircraft Spruce
Precision Spacer material- If you ever drop one on the hangar floor, your chances of ever finding it are nil until it no longer matters. As soon as you get a replacement, however, you will spot the lost part immediately
- ACS # 03-16030 SST Aly 304 Seamless tubing .250 O.D. x .035 wall
- This would have to be cut to length and possibly reamed to fit the AN3 size bolt
Aluminum tool material for assembly- In case you forget where you put it
- ACS # 03-36010 Al Aly 6061-T6 .625 O.D. x .049 wall
Custom Cable Assemblies- Rarely needed, unless you somehow damage a cable assembly
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https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...ickkey=3156830
- MIL-W-1511A CABLE, 3/32 DIA, 7X19, SST
- MS20664C-3 BALL & SHANK
- MS20668-3 EYE END, SST
Installation instructions- In case you lost yours a copy is attached
For those of you who are Tail Lynx customers, my heartfelt gratitude for your business and the many kind words of appreciation expressed for my product.
Blue skies
Following are a couple pictures of the pieces, that someone wanted to see. Hope this helps. Making the tube piece with the tube end would be the hardest part since the narrow end is squeezed down to catch the ball end of the cable.
Linear Mode
