3D printed tailwheel pant

[rph142]

I hate to cover up my nice new aero garage tailwheel fork, but I think this tailwheel pant might be worth 0.5kts. I used the NACA0030 foil because it seems to fit well over the height and width of the tailhweel/fork assembly. It should index over the OD of the AN5 axle nuts and into the ID of the hollow titanium axle. Im going to print and test fit it this week.

 

[Mtbguy]

Nice! I want one now

 

[sansoneservices]

Pretty Bling

 

[Aden Rich]

YES!

 

[Snowflake]

One word: Fillets. You need them on every interior sharp corner or you can expect failures at the stress concentrations.

 

[koupster]

Will you be printing with a fiber reinforced filament?

 

[rph142]

I finally got around to printing this thing. It needs a little cleanup and the right pant print has issues but it’s fine for test fit purposes. I’ll report back on the fit this weekend. I’m not sure what I’ll use to print the final version.

 

[Little Al]

I want one

 

[Norman CYYJ]

View attachment 116160
View attachment 116161
I hate to cover up my nice new aero garage tailwheel fork, but I think this tailwheel pant might be worth 0.5kts. I used the NACA0030 foil because it seems to fit well over the height and width of the tailhweel/fork assembly. It should index over the OD of the AN5 axle nuts and into the ID of the hollow titanium axle. Im going to print and test fit it this week.

Must be something wrong with the shape of it. I had a Van's tail pant on my RV4 and it gave me a 20kt increase. Lol

 

[Hangar 1271]

Looks very interesting. How do you actually install it? What about the chains or control rod for tailwheel steering? How do you attach a towbar? What size printer do you have or the dimensions of the part(s)?

 

[Aden Rich]

I had a TW pant on my RV-6. In order to get it to be a full swivel tailwheel, I had Russ weld the lower wheel mount 5/8” lower on the TW post. Then when I mounted the pant on there, it clears the TW spring.

 

[rph142]

It needs a slight adjustment to a few dimensions. I printed it on a bamboo printer and it just barely fits diagonally. I don’t think it will work with a tow bar. It clicks together and I plan on taping the seam or adding some sort of screw boss on the next version.