I have noticed that a lot of folks are using and waiting for the Doug Bell tail wheel, for the extra clearance it provides.
I don't want to steal any thunder from his product, but I did want to pass along some information on the Vince Frazier tail wheel, which does the same thing, but looks more like the standard VAN's TW, only angled down to provide the same clearance.
I had Vince's TW on my RV8 when I had the crash, so I thought I'd pass on how it faired in the accident.
When the tail smacked down on the runway, it actually bent the tail spring up from the impact. When this happened, the two AN bolts holding the TW on to the spring failed and the TW rotated on the spring from the force, almost 90*. One of the steering arms on the top of the TW got bent, but other than that, the TW is undamaged and can be reused, which amazed me, considering that the entire plane basically broke in half just behind the passenger seat from the impact. (About 6" of rivets, the rudder cables and wires were all that was still attached.)
Anyway, just wanted to pass the information along to those of you with an interest.
I don't want to steal any thunder from his product, but I did want to pass along some information on the Vince Frazier tail wheel, which does the same thing, but looks more like the standard VAN's TW, only angled down to provide the same clearance.
I had Vince's TW on my RV8 when I had the crash, so I thought I'd pass on how it faired in the accident.
When the tail smacked down on the runway, it actually bent the tail spring up from the impact. When this happened, the two AN bolts holding the TW on to the spring failed and the TW rotated on the spring from the force, almost 90*. One of the steering arms on the top of the TW got bent, but other than that, the TW is undamaged and can be reused, which amazed me, considering that the entire plane basically broke in half just behind the passenger seat from the impact. (About 6" of rivets, the rudder cables and wires were all that was still attached.)
Anyway, just wanted to pass the information along to those of you with an interest.
