Save a pound (almost) ? the DJM Tail Wheel

[Ironflight]

One of the last items that we added to our RV-3 before the inspection was a new lightweight tail wheel from DJM Manufacturing. Dayton Murdock is an RV-4 guy that many of you know, and I had often thought about giving his wheel a try on the -3, if for no other reason, the stock Van?s wheel is used on the -8, which is much larger?and shouldn?t everything be to scale? ?Junior?s? CG came out slightly aft of the middle of the box when we put it on the scales, and there was no way to load him outside of the box, but I saw no harm in moving the CG a fraction forward. It?s amazing how small of a weight change translates into a moment change when the station is all the way in the back! Dayton?s tail wheel is 14 ounces lighter than the Van?s unit, and slips right in to the Aviation Tech tail wheel fork that we installed during the build for better ground clearance.

Haven?t flown with the new wheel yet, of course, but it taxis straight and true. The quality is right up there with the throttle quadrants that Dayton has been supplying for years, and with sealed bearings, we shouldn?t be throwing grease around. We?ll let folks know how it wears as we get in to the flight program.

Paul

[N941WR]

I agree with Paul.

Dayton sold me one of his early production wheels and I put it on the -9 when it was back home getting the new engine installed.

So far I have 87 hours on it since January and 153 landings, most of which were on pavement.

The wheel doesn't show any wear and looks as though it might outlast the plane.