Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:48 pm
Original Posted By: gliderx5(at)comcast.net
=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0AHello G.P.=0A=0A=0AI have now been flying with my hard rubber, Wick's Aircraft Supply http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.c ... in=keyword hard rubber 3 1/2" dia. tail wheel for all of my 100 hrs of Piet time. This includes much taxiing on hard surface, and take-off landing mostly from grass/clover etc. It has taken a lot of punishment. I am very pleased with the results and performance. I was doing some minor repairs with my assembly back there, so I decided to replace the tire (even though I didn't have to). There was only, what I would consider "slight" amount of wear on the rubber itself. The bearings are ball bearing, but there is no means of lubrication, except maybe dripping a few drops of oil into the bearings from the side. Not much bearing wear to report in the first 100 hours. The bearing "slop" on the old one is very slight compared with the new.=0A=0A=0AI found a "hollow" bolt for the axle. I don't even remember where I got it, but it has a drilled hole to make it hollow, and a small drilled hole in the side so as to allow grease to be forced out to the inside cavity of the wheel bearings. I installed a zerk fitting into the end. =0A=0A=0AThis design has been a long evolution in design to get to this point. There is a quick-disconnect feature via a flat spring/lock pin. The idea is that the assembly can be removed quickly and a simple skid attached if desired.=0A=0A=0AAs you can see, there is a spring-loaded pin, that pulled slightly, "disconnects" the rudder from the wheel, and allows for free-wheeling for push-back operations. =0A=0A=0AI am showing all this, not to say it is the end-all, but to give ideas to others to get their own juices flowing, to meet individual needs. =0A=0A=0ADan Helsper=0ALoensloe Airfield=0APuryear, TN=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A________________________________________________________________________________Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:01:46 +0000 (UTC)
=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0AHello G.P.=0A=0A=0AI have now been flying with my hard rubber, Wick's Aircraft Supply http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.c ... in=keyword hard rubber 3 1/2" dia. tail wheel for all of my 100 hrs of Piet time. This includes much taxiing on hard surface, and take-off landing mostly from grass/clover etc. It has taken a lot of punishment. I am very pleased with the results and performance. I was doing some minor repairs with my assembly back there, so I decided to replace the tire (even though I didn't have to). There was only, what I would consider "slight" amount of wear on the rubber itself. The bearings are ball bearing, but there is no means of lubrication, except maybe dripping a few drops of oil into the bearings from the side. Not much bearing wear to report in the first 100 hours. The bearing "slop" on the old one is very slight compared with the new.=0A=0A=0AI found a "hollow" bolt for the axle. I don't even remember where I got it, but it has a drilled hole to make it hollow, and a small drilled hole in the side so as to allow grease to be forced out to the inside cavity of the wheel bearings. I installed a zerk fitting into the end. =0A=0A=0AThis design has been a long evolution in design to get to this point. There is a quick-disconnect feature via a flat spring/lock pin. The idea is that the assembly can be removed quickly and a simple skid attached if desired.=0A=0A=0AAs you can see, there is a spring-loaded pin, that pulled slightly, "disconnects" the rudder from the wheel, and allows for free-wheeling for push-back operations. =0A=0A=0AI am showing all this, not to say it is the end-all, but to give ideas to others to get their own juices flowing, to meet individual needs. =0A=0A=0ADan Helsper=0ALoensloe Airfield=0APuryear, TN=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A________________________________________________________________________________Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:01:46 +0000 (UTC)