- Joined
- Feb 1, 2007
- Messages
- 2,948
- Reaction score
- 1,228
I recently had the hard rubber tire depart the wheel upon landing on my Lang tailwheelequipped Acro Sport II. This resulted in a lost tire, and a damaged wheel. I still don't know why it happened, unless the tire was defective. Rather than replace the 2 piece wheel for $128 each half, plus a new tire, Ichose to buy a new Matcotailwheel for $150. It looks to be a nice piece, especially for the price. A new Lang is almost $1000 now.
Anyway, my tailwheel spring has 2 full leaves, and1 half leaf. I re-arched my spring to correct the caster angle on the new Matco tailwheel. While I was doing this, it occured to me that if the tailwheel mounting hole (goes through both full leaves)was an on size (3/8") hole, the scissor action of the leaves during up and down flex would try to shear the tailwheel mounting bolt. So, I was wondering if the mounting hole in one of the leaves should be slotted to allow the springs to slide back and forth on each other as they flex up and down. Or, am I making this more complicated than it really is?Edited by: Cameron
Anyway, my tailwheel spring has 2 full leaves, and1 half leaf. I re-arched my spring to correct the caster angle on the new Matco tailwheel. While I was doing this, it occured to me that if the tailwheel mounting hole (goes through both full leaves)was an on size (3/8") hole, the scissor action of the leaves during up and down flex would try to shear the tailwheel mounting bolt. So, I was wondering if the mounting hole in one of the leaves should be slotted to allow the springs to slide back and forth on each other as they flex up and down. Or, am I making this more complicated than it really is?Edited by: Cameron