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Maule TW normal behavior

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Acromaniac

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Aloha Forum,

I have read all of the old threads on tailwheels and have learned a lot but I find myself still needing help. I have about 25 landings, all on pavement, on my recently aquired, solid wheel equipped S1S. Taxi speed control is normal and responsive, but I find that it takes maximum concentration to maintain directional control on rollout. I seem to have yaw PIO's with what feels like extremely small rudder inputs. There also has been a lot of shimmy.

After reading the old threads, I have tried a looser spring adjustment with a seemingly small benefit. I also noticed some slop in the fork / oilite bushing area. I rebuilt It with a new bushing and a new tire in case that was the issue. In 2 landings since the rebuild, the shimmy is still there.

I got about 50 landings in an S2B with Ken Erickson and felt very comfortable before transitioning. Sorry for the long post. I will try to narrow it down to a cpl questions....

1. Is this normal behavior of this TW / aircraft combo on pavement?
2. Are my directional control issues just normal transition to S1S? (2000 hr TW)
3. Should I be looking for problems with TW itself or gear geometry?

Thank You,
Jim
 

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