Re: [Titanaircraft] tail wheel

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@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: gregburcham18 <gregburcham18@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Titanaircraft] tail wheel
To: Titanaircraft@yahoogroups.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

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