Re: [Titanaircraft] Re: tail wheel

I had trouble with hitting the tailwheel on landings too. I think it is due to the visibility and the way the nose is actually a little downward pointing compared to other light aircraft or spam cans. I had a friend video three landings and when I watched those I realized the high AOA on flare and how much clearance I had on the nose when landing. It didn't take much practice after that to learn to flare just a little less. Getting that mental picture in my head from an outside perspective took care of the bumps for me. 

________________________________
From: ls78705 <lstavenhagen@hotmail.com>
To: Titanaircraft@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2009 12:01:07 PM
Subject: [Titanaircraft] Re: tail wheel

 
--- In Titanaircraft@ yahoogroups. com, Jim Covington <jim@...> wrote:
>
> "It is possible to consistently land a Titan without striking the tail
> wheel."
>
> Yeah, but not as slow as I like. :)
>
> PS - How do you fit 12 aluminum rivets per side? The 5 are pretty mushed
> together as-is.
>

not meaning to sidetrack the discussion, but at least when flying solo I never touch the tailwheel down even when landing with no flaps. Admittedly, because we're up here in the mountains at 7000' I like to carry a little extra energy on landing and don't touch down at the very slowest possible speed. Unless it's totally calm I set down at relatively lower AoA's and when its windy I usually carry a little power into the flare.

When I was flying dual with the ex partner, tho, we plonked the tailwheel down several times, generally because of the higher AoA's we encountered due to the extra weight.

Not long after that I had to rerivet the tailwheel on. It was hanging on by only 2 rivets when I finally caught it (sort of indicted my preflights at the time ;)). But it took all the damage and left the tailtube untouched.

I used metal rivets and it has stayed on ever since (tho it doesn't get hit in flight anymore)...

LS

> guy truex wrote:
> >
> >
> > The tail wheel mount was designed to be like a fuse. It is mounted
> > with rivets to protect the tail boom tube from damage. It is meant to
> > loosen or shear off if it strikes the ground too hard.
> >
> > It was originally designed to be held in place with 5 steel rivets on
> > each side. The rivets should be SD45BS Pop brand rivets (shear
> > strength 295 lbs.). It is acceptable to back the rivets with thin 1/8
> > inch steel washers although it's not necessary.
> >
> > Aluminum rivets will shear very easily and should not be used. The
> > steel rivets will hold under normal loads- like rolling along on the
> > ground while the plane is being pushed. Any tail wheel strike upon
> > landing could result in loosened rivets.
> >
> > Your flying skills are probably fine. Adjusting your technique so the
> > pitch attitude will be a little lower at touchdown will help a lot.
> > Just adding a couple of MPH on short final should make it happen.
> > Holding the nose wheel off the ground after landing will provide a lot
> > of dynamic braking and the plane should slow quickly. It is possible
> > to consistently land a Titan without striking the tail wheel.
> >
> > -- Guy
> >
> > --- On Wed, 9/2/09, gregburcham18 <gregburcham18@ ...
> > <mailto:gregburcham 18%40yahoo. com>> wrote:
> >
> > From: gregburcham18 <gregburcham18@ ...
> > <mailto:gregburcham 18%40yahoo. com>>
> > Subject: [Titanaircraft] tail wheel
> > To: Titanaircraft@ yahoogroups. com <mailto:Titanaircra ft%40yahoogroups .com>
> > Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 2:35 PM
> >
> >
> >
> > Could someone please give me an alternative to the tail wheel? My tail
> > wheel is secured via 12 aluminum rivets per side which pops right off
> > anytime it is even slightly bumped (sometimes I don't even know it is
> > gone until I get out of the aircraft). I hate this thing!
> >
> > Any suggestions (mechanical, not flying skills) would be greatly
> > appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Greg
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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