coachA

Kind of a newbie question, but what the heck.

I've replaced the SE kit tailwheel with a Sullivan single spring bracket, but I'm just not sure it's going to work. When I move the rudder, the spring doesn't seem to move the wheel all that much. Any suggestions on improvements? I'm thinking stronger wire and/or moving the point at which the wire goes into the rudder back further towards the rear of the rudder. Do I really need a spring or will a straight wire work well?

The bracket looks like this:


Any help would be appreciated.

Hots_Flyer

My Feedback: (2)

When the plane is rolling, it will steer. Give it a push and try it out.

coachA

I tried to move it on the ground by hand and move the rudder, but it really didn't move the wheel much. It was on carpet, not road, and it was the fuse only, no radio, motor, etc. so there wasn't much weight on it. Is that normal for these?

stop_the_spam

The stock tail wheel is fine... Just use an extra CA hinge or two on the rudder... My wife has a Sig SE and she's just learning how to land it, so it does come down hard sometimes due to some bouncing and I've been keeping an eye on the tail wheel and I can tell it will last the life of the plane...

I would just use the stock tail wheel, and if it does break the rudder off -- no biggie, try something else but i have a feeling you will have success with it too...

Adrian

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

coachA,

Have a look over in the kit building forum. I posted another question about the Somethin' Extra tailwheel that you might want to know the answer to.

I am also using a Sullivan bracket and the flying wires will not fit properly with the bracket in stock form. It needs some mods for the flying wires.

Here it is:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...threadid=46587]

coachA

Saw it yesterday - it's what inspired me to put the bracket on in the first place! I just mounted it forward of the hard point so that the brass swivel wheel is just over the hard point. It fits fine without mods, but it a bit further back. It's in place now, so I'm not going to mess with it, but I'm concerned with it's ability to actually turn the plane. This is the first Sullivan bracket I've used, so if this is just how it's supposed to work, then great.

OUTCAST

I've used this tail wheel before with good results. Use the smaller of the two springs it's stiffer. The steering takes a bit of getting used to but it works ok, and its easy on the rudder servo.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

This could be part of the problem. The brass swivel is supposed to be in line with the rudder hinge so that they both turn around the same point.

xp8103

My Feedback: (16)

CoachA,
To answer your question, a straight wire will work fine as well. The load on the tail on this plane is so light under nearly all cases that any benefit you get from the spring would be negligible at best. Given that, the smaller of the two springs will work fine as well. I have the stock unit on mine and it is starting to break out of the tail after 3+years and countless flights. No biggie.
You'll love the plane. Don't be afraid to play with the CG. With an MDS .48 on it and the Rx right in front of the wing tube and the battery pack right behind it (on the servo platform) the plane flew well but was too nose heavy. I finally moved the battery pack back behind the servo compartment and it became a whole new plane.

Good luck!

coachA

I knew I shouldn't have lost that instruction card! I think I'll try it as is first, and it that doesn't work, then move it back to where it's supposed to be.

As for getting around the hard point, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm building the ARF, so since I couldn't get inside the plane to install the blind nuts, I just mounted them in some ply that I expoxied just forward of the hard point. If I'm lucky and everything lines up right, I can just mount a shorter piece and another blind nut behind the hard point and I'm good to go.

Thanks for the help folks!