Hi everyone,

its been quite a while.... Im needing a bit of help with my piper cub the tail wheel wont stay straight and is stliding towards the right and just spins in a circle and when you apply opposite rudder she keeps spinning but with a wider cicle... the tail wheel has been broken and i repaired it but then i took it off again because of the spinning and re did it but with out sucuss.. really need help with a way to stop it from wanting to turn right and taxi straight(cant even take off cause she just spins in cicrles.

Thanks a lot


matthew

I have noticed some R/C tail draggers just use a skid instead of a wheel. I wonder if that is why?

Is the tail wheel connected to the rudder or does it just caster around following the tail? If its not connected to the rudder, make a linkage that would accomplish that. Also, while taxiing, hold up elevator to put some pressure on the tail wheel. That should help keep the plane on track. Also, check your main wheels for binding. If your right wheel is acting as a brake, the plane will turn right no matter what you do. HTH

ya but those aircraft are flying on grass not on paved runways because it wud wear the skid away and you cant turn properly with a skid...

no the wheel is just catsing around. the main wheels are fine its just that the aircraft tends to side to the right.. could it be the wheel because it got a coil which acts as suspension on the back. well i do hold the elevator back because the engine is quiet powrful just in case she wants to through forward. Could you give me an idea on how to make the tail wheel move with the rudder.

Calling your airplane a Piper Cub narrows things down to a thousand distinctly different airplanes all with different requirements.

No one can help you unless you cut loose with some information about your particular airplane and about you as well as what type of area/surface you trying to fly off.

Just a few of the questions that will need to be answered If you want real help:

Exactly which model is it?

Is it a larger glow powered model?

Or is it a small electric park flyer:

Does the tailwheel steer with the rudder or is it fixed:

What exactly is your flying experiance?

And are you attempting this on your own?


John

I Believe that John is on the right track here... it is hard to give advice when you do not know what type of Airplane we are talking about and the skill level of the pilot.

However; one thing that many people do wrong with the tail draggers is applying too much power too fast.

Handling a tail dragger design is different from a tricycle gear design. On a roll out you have to apply power slowly or the torque of the engine will cause the aircraft to ground loop. As the AC gains ground speed more air is rushing over the rudder and the rudder will hold the AC Strait.

Having the tail wheel connected to the rudder will also help to hold the AC strait.

Good Luck.

To make the tail wheel steer with the rudder, it is common practice to link it to the rudder either with a wire or a spring. Click this [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFV47&P=ML]Link[/link] to see what a steerable tail wheel looks like. The spring is mounted to the bottom of the rudder on one side and inserted into the top retaining collar of the tail wheel assembly on the other. Using a spring reduces stress on the rudder and servo if you hit rough ground.

The caster on your main gear makes a big difference also. Make sure you have some toe in on the main gear. When you gain a little experience with tail dragger's, it is fun to go ahead and quickly apply throttle which boosts the tail off the ground. You have to fly the plane while it is still on the ground, i.e. manage the elevator very closely so you do not jump off the ground to early (before adequate flying speed) yet do not drag the tail wheel on the ground. Once mastered, this is a good way to take off such planes as a Cub which can be a chore for taxi.

it is a J3 piper cub. scale .25 with a .25 nitro engine in it.

Shes a small glow powered aircraft.

The wheel is fixed.

Ive flown for about a year now.

yes I am attempting this on my own and if need be will go to a hobbie shop


Thanks John hope this is what you need

Matthew

sounds like you need a new tail whell assembly..the tail wheel must attach to the rudder or to the pull pull cable assembly that controls the rudder...without differental braking I don't see a free castering tail wheel working