C-FAH Q

C-FAH Q

Well Known Member
This winter I installed Vince Fraziers Screaming Eagle tailwheel retrofit kit on my RV-7. I had decided to install this because it would raise the tail up and give better ground clearance around ramps. I always push my tail off the asphalt and onto the grass to keep it from rolling, and the extra clearance is nice when pulling it back onto the ramp.
I order the parts through Vince's Website http://www.flyboyaccessories.com/store/ Parts came quickly and when I opened the box, was imediatly impressed with the workmanship of the parts....they were beautifully constructed. The install took all of about ten minutes and all the parts fit perfectly into the vans parts. All I had to do was drop the old tailwheel fork( remove large nut from top of shaft) swap the tailwheel itself and install the new fork. It was so easy a caveman could do it!
With new fork installed, out I went for a test flight. First thing I noticed imediatly after sitting down was the much better forward visibility, it was improved so much, I took the booster cushion out from under my butt, which was nice because now I have more headroom and still have good view forward while taixing. Once I began to taxi, I noticed ground manouvering was much easier, with the angle of the fork changed as compared to Vans tailwheel, the plane was more responsive and took less rudder pedal pressure to turn. On take off and also on landing, I found it to be more responsive and reflective of my pedal inputs.
I love my new Screaming Eagle tailwheel and recommend it highly. I was amazed at the difference it made. I also added a tail wheel fairing(Vans item)and it fit easily with little work but cutting the hole in the top of the fairing to fit over the fork shaft. Now I have a full swiveling tailwheel with fairing that looksgreat and performs even better.
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Looks cool ! I may have to give that a try . When I get my 4 back in the air I would like to fly out and have a look at it

Marc
 
Gary, thanks for the great compliment and feedback. That tail wheel pant looks great and has gotta be good for an extra 20 knots! ;)

We are very pleased with our tail wheel fork and have quietly shipped about 300 of them over the last 5 years. 95% to RVs and Rockets, but several have found a new home on Cubs, Avid Flyers, Pitts, and others.

We try to keep these in stock at all times and there's a new batch of 12 sitting on the bench awaiting welding right now.

Vince
 
Wow, 300 units !! I guess the numbers speak for themselves. Great products always sell themselves, and this is a great tailwheel improvement.
 
A couple of us at DVT have each installed one on our RVs to accommodate The rear fender :)) We like the fork and The wife loves her little fender. Larry
 
Looks like a good install and I've always liked the TW pants on RVs.

Curious, though, that you site the need for more ground clearance as the reason you upgraded the fork - then slap a fiberglass wheelpant on that probably reduces the clearance to less than what you had before - and adds a broken wheelpant to the risk. Am I missing something?
 
Jeff, yes the tailwheel fairing, which is completely optional, can reduce the clearance as compared to the unfaired tailwheel, but it's still got considerably more clearance than a Van's fork. And steers easier too.

When a fairing is done correctly, the tailwheel will still full swivel. The fairing will clear the tail spring.. which it typically won't do if installed on a Van's fork.

Once again, the fairing is optional. Van's standard tailwheel pant can be drilled to fit our fork if speed is your game.

FWIW, I don't have a tailwheel pant on my Rocket. I have a pant on the bench, but can't find enough free time to ever get to installing it. Too busy making forks!

Besides, my Rocket is soooo fast already...... ;)

Thanks,
Vince
 
Jeff,
with the Vans tailweel fork, there is virually no clearance after the pant is installed. I like speed, and the look of the pant, and if i do wreck the pant.....well, its an easy fix.
 
Gary,

Just a me-too post to show my similar set-up. I put a "Smokey Schrek" fairing on my Van's TW before the Rocket 100 (and like it), but have always liked my Flyboys TW a lot, for all the reasons you described. So when I found out Tom had the Van's fairing on the Flyboys TW, and you were doing the same, I had to try it as well. All the good qualities of Vince's TW, with a full-swiveling fairing as well...sweet!

Here's the new rig (just like yours, only in red "camo" ;)):

twfairing.jpg


And I'd agree with you on the clearance issue. For Jeff, the nice clearance feature with Vinces TW is the ground-to-metal fork clearance. Just seems with the slight lift and angled fork, it will clear things (monster expansion joints or small potholes) better and perhaps help prevent a sudden stop and damage to the TW fork or spring. Maybe a low percentage problem, but it does also seem to steer better and give a little better vis over the nose (albeit slight, its there). I added the fairing for racing, and if I shwack it in a pothole, its cheap and easy to fix...as long as I keep the fork out of the hit zone!

Noting wrong with Van's original, this is just a nice option! (Flyboys and Just Plane Works are pretty dern good guys too!) :D

Cheers,
Bob
 
The tail wheel pant install took about 1 hour. I did it all on the work bench. The trick is to open up the whole for the shaft slowly in small increments so you end up with a nice snug fit around the shaft. My pant comes down to the bottom of the shaft and slightly down the front of the weldment, so its not a perfectly round opening, but a custom fit opening. Also, I needed to adjust how the pant sits on the axle so the wheel would be centered in the pant, just a matter of moving waser position on the axle bolt.

Bob, red camo looks good......but i dont see any snow in your hanger like I did in mine !!!
 
algrajek said:
How big of a job is it fitting that tailwheel fairing. Looks cool.
Al grajek
Click to expand...

Al,

It was pretty straight forward. The fairing comes undrilled, so you need to fit the fork in the fairing the way you want, and drill the hole in the top for the TW pivot, and the holes in the side for the axle. The cutout in the bottom of the fairing is large (front to back), and allows you some fore-aft range in where you drill the pivot hole.

Once that is drilled, then positioning the axle hole height determines the angle of the fairing. I lifted the tail and played with it till I had an axle height that ensured good clearance for the fairing when it was rotated backwards (for pushing it back), but not so angled that the trailing edge of the fairing was too low when in the normal (forward facing) position. Easier to see than describe, but once you have it on the pivot, it becomes obvious when you rotate the TW/fairing assembly through 360 deg.

Drilling the axle holes straight across is important, as that sets the longitudinal axis of the fairing (i.e., one hole forward of the other = crooked fairing). If one hole is higher than the other, you'd have some "list" as well (sorry, Navy guy!) I'm sure minor deviations are not critical (hope not, mine isn't perfect!)

That's really it. Gary and Tom may have some other good tips as well. (oops just saw Gary's latest...good comments about the top hole...slow and steady, with a few fittings along the way.

Of course, being tinkerers, and at the suggestion of a mentor, we beefed up the sides of the faring where the axle holes were to be drilled with a couple layers of glass (concentric circular patches), to give the fairing a little more stoutness there. Probably doesn't need it and is fine stock, but it did round out the side a teensy bit, so I'm sure its now more of a pressure recovery fairing! ;) Then we used some modeling clay at the forward part of the wheel cutout to lay up some glass to close the front gap to the wheel to about 5/16" (which matched the rear gap). Those two "mods to the mod" have got to be worth 2 knots, right Tom/Gary?! :D

Anywho, it was quick pretty quick and easy!

Cheers,
Bob
 
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C-FAH Q said:
Bob, red camo looks good......but i dont see any snow in your hanger like I did in mine !!!
Click to expand...

Gary,

It was right outside the door at that time. I mostly try keep it outside, though we don't get as much as you guys! :) Snow in the hangar makes for some cold working conditions...you guys are tuff!!

Wish you guys were trekking to Taylor again! We'll compare TW's soon enough!!

Cheers,
Bob
 
"2"

Love my Screaming Eagle Tailwheel mod! Bought it from the man himself at his booth at OSH last year and am impressed. Easy instal, better clearance and handling. Highly recommended!
 
Just installed my new Screaming Eagle T/W fork yesterday. Clearly better field of view over nose. My 11 yr old son said he can now see over nose where he couldn't before. Haven't taxi tested yet due to wx, but am expecting better handling from posts I've read. Easy install with perfect fit.:D
 
I bought one of Vince's tailwheel forks and like it because it shares the same lightweight yet rugged basic design as the Van's original. The bottom edge of the pivot is about an inch higher off the ground, which hopefully decreases or eliminates the possibility of it catching a pavement edge (for example while taxiing from grass onto pavement). It also takes less force to steer, because the wheel axle is closer to the pivot axis. Vince's old website had some photos of his vs. Van's fork that were very helpful in making the comparison, but I can't seem to find these on the new website.

Its fairly easy to fit the Van's fairing and still have full swivel (close to impossible with the original fork), as detailed above. Its true that a fairing reduces ground clearance a bit, but it looks good and might be faster (although I can't measure a difference). The fairing would likely get clobbered if you ran over anything, but its repairable.

I'd also add that Vince's customer service has been excellent.
 
The old web site is still up. It's at www.vincesrocket.com

It may have been down for a few days last week when we consolidated all of our web stuff to our current service provider, Hostmonster.

The old tailwheel stuff can still be found at http://www.vincesrocket.com/products.htm

The old graphics and old tailwheel links on the old website will try to direct you to www.flyboyaccessories.com As you can imagine, we're trying to consolidate everything to one place so that it's less confusing and easier to maintain.

So, browse the old site all you want, but if you need to purchase anything, please use the www.flyboyaccessories.com web store.

FWIW, we have no intention of taking the old Rocket site down. It's just too handy to use as a reference when I can't remember Rocket details. I hope that others find it useful too.

Thanks for all the kind words about our tailwheel and other goodies. I appreciate the support.
 
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