I like tweaking my airplanes. Thought this particular tweak might be of interest to others.
I'm using an Aviation Products tailwheel on my RV-8:
The connection between tailwheel and rudder horn is more-or-less conventional; pull cables and drawbar springs. I like to use nicopressed cables with thimbles and shackles instead of chains (because they're bulletproof and because I have the cable tools), but that's beside the point. This is a report on springs.
The first set came from Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/comp_springs.php
The airplane was overly sensitive to pedal input at taxi speeds, but that was no big deal. However, crosswind runway work was tricky. It was necessary to remove most of the rudder input momentarily just before allowing the tailwheel to touch, then reapply a smaller deflection. Not doing so resulted in a swerve when the tailwheel made contact. The springs were obviously too stiff, and didn't allow the tailwheel to caster straight with the runway while maintaining some aerodynamic rudder input.
First step was to quantify the springs in use. A pull with the electronic fish scale found the above springs to be about 65 lbs for 1/2" of deflection, far stiffer than I would have guessed.
A little searching found these (and there are other sources):
http://www.reidsupply.com/Detail.aspx?itm=CDBS-7052
Same 4" long but 50 lbs per inch, about half the stiffness of the originals. Made up a new cable set and went off to fly. Huge improvement. Now the rudder dominates directional control when moving down the runway with any real velocity. Taxi became very stable, but close quarter maneuvering was not affected. After 5 hours or so I'd estimate a spring rate around 70 lbs per inch would perfect for this tailwheel, but I'm not going to change.
Anyway, these spring values may help someone. The standard Vans tailwheel may incorporate a bit more trail (distance from the point where the swivel axis intersects the ground, to the tire contact point). If so, you may want a slightly stiffer spring rate.
I have about 800 hours TW in all kinds of airplanes. The original setup wasn't dangerous or uncontrollable, but it wasn't optimum either. Sometimes it's a real surprise to see how something as mundane as a spring swap can change some aspect of an airplane's performance. We enjoy the right to tweak our experimentals, so go ahead, make it perfect.
I'm using an Aviation Products tailwheel on my RV-8:
The connection between tailwheel and rudder horn is more-or-less conventional; pull cables and drawbar springs. I like to use nicopressed cables with thimbles and shackles instead of chains (because they're bulletproof and because I have the cable tools), but that's beside the point. This is a report on springs.
The first set came from Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/comp_springs.php
The airplane was overly sensitive to pedal input at taxi speeds, but that was no big deal. However, crosswind runway work was tricky. It was necessary to remove most of the rudder input momentarily just before allowing the tailwheel to touch, then reapply a smaller deflection. Not doing so resulted in a swerve when the tailwheel made contact. The springs were obviously too stiff, and didn't allow the tailwheel to caster straight with the runway while maintaining some aerodynamic rudder input.
First step was to quantify the springs in use. A pull with the electronic fish scale found the above springs to be about 65 lbs for 1/2" of deflection, far stiffer than I would have guessed.
A little searching found these (and there are other sources):
http://www.reidsupply.com/Detail.aspx?itm=CDBS-7052
Same 4" long but 50 lbs per inch, about half the stiffness of the originals. Made up a new cable set and went off to fly. Huge improvement. Now the rudder dominates directional control when moving down the runway with any real velocity. Taxi became very stable, but close quarter maneuvering was not affected. After 5 hours or so I'd estimate a spring rate around 70 lbs per inch would perfect for this tailwheel, but I'm not going to change.
Anyway, these spring values may help someone. The standard Vans tailwheel may incorporate a bit more trail (distance from the point where the swivel axis intersects the ground, to the tire contact point). If so, you may want a slightly stiffer spring rate.
I have about 800 hours TW in all kinds of airplanes. The original setup wasn't dangerous or uncontrollable, but it wasn't optimum either. Sometimes it's a real surprise to see how something as mundane as a spring swap can change some aspect of an airplane's performance. We enjoy the right to tweak our experimentals, so go ahead, make it perfect.
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