Sorry...just make the front heavy....

Comment ___

People do not always mean what they write and do not always write what they mean.

<span style="color: #ff0000">Just enjoy the holidays fellows.

<span style="color: #333399">Zor
</span></span>

Happy Holidays All and when in doubt of CG look in the Aerodynamics thread, there are numerous posts on CG calculators. Thanks to everyone and keep your nose UP!!!!

Scotty

Some of the nose weight will come out of the main gear moving considerably forward.

After removing the nose wheel and its linkage and installing the tail wheel an its linkage the main gears can be fastened temporarily (scotch tape or duck tape will do that) and its location for balance can be closely approximated.

That is of course if one is not building the whole airplane but just modifying an existing trigear.

To me, from "The Good Old Times" a taildragger looks like an airplane. A trigear looks like a kiddycar.
OK ___now, all join in and let's have a big laugh. Hee Hee !!!

<span style="color: #ff0000">Happy Holidays</span>

Zor

A jet would look horrible as a tailgrager.....LOL So would a cessna 150 or a mixmaster.

Hi skypiratescotty,

I am wondering how you are doing with your tail dragger.

<span style="color: #ff0000">Merry Christmas to you and your family.</span>

Zor

Hey Zor

Goin' well, I think. Just hope it is sturdy enough. I've included a couple pics. First is the plane, it's a Lucky Star 40 ARF that I won on eBay for $32. I know the covering needs some attention but actually the plane went together fairly well and you do get what you pay for. I've been out of the hobby for a few years and want to get back to it but don't have a lot of $ right now. You can see I epoxied a piece of mohagany to the bottom of fuse and drilled a small hole all the way through the fuse. I ran some wire up thru the hole, bent it and epoxied it into the rudder. Not sure of the wire diameter or any dimensions for that matter I just eye-balled everything. What do you think ?

Scotty

Here is the finished plane!! I've tuned the engine ( OS 46LA), checked radio function, throws and CG. It's just been too windy and cold here in Maryland for a maiden. My only concern is that manual calls for 10mm up elevator and I can only get about 7.5-8 and have tried everything I can think of to get a little more but it just won't go.

Scotty

It looks great, but you ought to take a heat gun to that covering before the maiden flight

You got one in your back pocket that I can borrow?

You can use an ordinary household iron (like to iron shirts, pants, etc . . .

Cover it with an old dish cloth (like to dry dishes in the kitchen).

Start at a low heat setting and and increase the temp setting of the iron as necessary to get results.

Stat underneath somewhere till you get the hang of it.

<span style="color: #ff0000">Good luck and Happy New Year.</span>

Zor

Yup, like ZOR said, a clothes iron will work. Or you can borrow my heat gun. Let me know when you're coming and I'll have it ready

Ha Ha Ha
Ya know , I actually built a couple Mountain Model parkflyer electrics and I used a house iron for the covering cuz I couldn't afford hobby stuff and it worked fine. I will get to it before the maiden as I know it will just worsen as it flys.

I do appreciate the advice on the covering but I'm more curiuos what you guys think of the tailwheel I concocted from heavy wire and pushrod connectors?

Scotty

sorry, by the way, I've always wanted to check out the fine "honeys" y'all have up there in Mn!!!!

We've put them on ice for the season. You may want to visit when they've thawed out a little!

My concern is, did you glue the wood to the covering material or did you strip the material off and then glue the wood to it.
Tail wheel brackets can be purchased for a couple of dollars, well maybe 5.
does your wheel have a tendency to wobble? If not, you may be ok.

yes I did strip the covering before gluing the wood to the fuse. The wheel seems solid sitting on the ground when I shake the plane a little. I'll let everyone know how the maiden goes as soon as I can fly it.

skypiratescotty

Concerning your tailwheel ___

Now that I have maginified the picture I can see the little fitting you have with a set screw against the plywood.

I just think it would have been preferable to have an aluminum flat washer against the plywood and a wheel collar instead of what you have. It would present a flat surfacee against the washer to carry the bumps of the runway or in the event of hard landings.

<span style="color: #ff0000">Happy New year.</span>

Zor

Apparently you're not aware of the fact that they invented the wheel barrow in order to teach MN girls to walk on their hind legs

Zor

That is smart. I should have thought to put a washer in there to protect the wood and spread out the load a little. I do have some wheel collars so I'm gonna go see if I can change it up. It may be dificult to move the fittings around the turns in the wire but I think it is worth the try. Thanks !

Scotty

I did this one...It isn't supposed to be a tail dragger....Flies nice....fast too!