Tailwheel gear on profiles

Stuka Stunt Main Forum · 6 of 6 known posts recovered

Jake · Sep 18, 2001 08:33 AM

LAST EDITED ON Sep-18-01 AT 08:58 AM (CDT)

This is another interesting avenue. I have tried several methods for putting these on through the years. Some have worked well, some have not been so hot. I have found this item needs to be a bit more stout than is usually advised in kit directions, or else easily replaced...

John

"It'll probably feel real good again, once it quits hurting".

Larry F · Sep 18, 2001 09:25 AM

#1 source

Being purely practical, those of us that fly mostly off grass should use tailskids, not tailwheels. I am totally impractical in this case, and never use tailskids. I don't know why. A tailwheel adds something to the simplest plane that says something about the builder.

Some strength considerations are the length of the horizontal part of the strut. Glassing that in, or adding a wood screw as reinforcement helps. Cutting a nice well fitted groove in the bottom of the fuse helps, as it gives a place for the epoxy to dwell. Glassing over the whole package is pretty easy to blend into the whole fuselage.

In short, I don't know.

Larry F

Scott Riese · Sep 18, 2001 09:50 AM

#2 source

HERE'S What I do..I bend the gear. I then find Where to put the tail wheel. Make a grove in the fuse where the tail wheel goes, Not to deep. Dril a hole large enough for a piece of brass tubing. Epoxy that in. Put your tail wheel in the brass tubing and epoxy that wheel in the tube and the grove. When dry take a piece of glass OR what I use is a cloth hinge. Epoxy that over the wire that's in the grove. Works for me. Got planes from the 60's with no problem. Scott

Jim T. · Sep 18, 2001 10:03 AM

#3 source

I bend up the front of the tailwheel wire and epoxy a rectangular piece of appropriate thickness plywood to the tailwheel wire which makes an "L" around two sides of the ply, and glass it to the ply, then epoxy into a slot in the fuselage and glass it over again. The tailwheel wire may break, but it will never come out. Something to be said for bolt-on replacable tailwheels and tailskids.

Jim

Ty M> · Sep 18, 2001 12:13 PM

#4 source

I use a variation of the methods by Scott and Jim. Both work. Tail skids I have no trouble with, but wheels need to be set "deep" so they don't pull out. I have tried a piece of ply epoxied into a slot and two small wood dowels set vertically into the fuselage. This worked fine. Only part of the plane that survived a later crash!!!

Mikey · Sep 20, 2001 03:59 PM

#5 source

LAST EDITED ON Sep-20-01 AT 03:59 PM (CDT)

I came up with this idea many years ago when I wanted to take the wheels off my models for better packing in the station wagon.

Inlay a 1/4” X 1/2” piece of basswood into the bottom of the profile fuselage with epoxy glue. Bend the tail wheel wire (or Skid) from 1/16” or 3/32” music wire. Make the base of the tail wheel wire resemble a paper clips closed loop section and bend the remaining wire to the desired shape (side view). Drill two holes in the bottom of the basswood block and thread these holes with a 4-40 tap. Wick thin CA into the holes and when the CA has cured, re-tap the holes. The CA makes the threads in the basswood really hard. Use two 4-40 bolts and flat washers and pass the bolts through the closed loop section of the tail wheel wire and thread into the basswood block. With this arrangement you can remove and replace the tail wheel or try different length wires to fine tune your takeoffs and landings.

Mike Pratt