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Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
I am building a Spa3dt, and am a little confused on the tail wheel. How does it swivel?
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RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
I took a piece of the rod I had left over from my control surfaces and used it. I bent a 90 dgree angle on one end and drilled a hole in to the rudder. I then used the control horn to clamp it in. I drilled a hole in the fuse for the rod to pass through, then put the rod through the hole to the bottom of the fuse. I then made a small angle bend, then another 90 degree bend and put a tail wheel on it. I did not use a collar, I simply bent the rod up to hold the wheel on. It the swivels when you use the rudder as it would on a balsa plane.
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RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
From the Spa3d build essay:
8. VERTICAL STAB/RUDDER. I cut my vertical stab/rudder from an 8" x 8" piece of 4mm Coroplast. I gave the stab a 2" taper and hinged it at 4" by cutting away one side of the hinge line flute. Cut the bottom ½" of the rudder away (so that it will clear the rail). I was going to leave the rudder squared away at the bottom, but it ended up hitting the elevator control horn, so I trimmed a 2" x 2" triangle off the lower rear corner (see plans drawing). Cut out two ¾" square PVC pieces and drill with a 1/16" drill bit for screw tapping. The vertical stab/rudder will be mounted to the inside of the aluminum fuselage with two #6 x ½" self tapping screws just like you did the horizontal stab/elevator. It really doesn't matter what side you mount it to, but I like to mount mine on the left side to offset muffler weight (however slight that may be).You will notice that I mounted the vertical stab/rudder with the rudder hinge line 2" forward of the aft end of the fuselage, simply because I think it looks cool and gives better elevator/rudder clearance. Before mounting the vertical stab/rudder to your plane, you will want to install the tail wheel wire into the rudder! I used .078 music wire (hobby shop) and started with an 8" piece. Using needle nose pliers, bend a 2" "L" in the wire. You will now poke (solid pressure is all it takes to poke it through the flutes) this into your rudder so that the 2" leg goes into the rudder, 1 ½" above the bottom edge of the rudder, and the 6" leg runs inside the hinge, and out the bottom of the vertical stab/rudder. Using the vertical stab/rudder/tail wheel wire assembly as a guide, you need to figure out where you need to drill the tail wheel wire hole in the bottom of the fuselage. I used a 3/32" drill bit for this which is slightly larger than the .078 music wire. Drill the tail wheel wire hole in the bottom of the fuselage...it will also run through the horizontal stab Coroplast. You can now slide the tail wheel wire through the fuselage hole and position the vertical stab/rudder in place on your airplane, drill for, and install it with the #6 x ½" self tapping screws into the ¾" square PVC pieces. A helpful hint here for positioning the vertical stab mounting screws is to drill the holes in the aluminum close to the top edge of the rail. Once the vertical stab/rudder is installed, you can finish out the tail wheel. I used a 1 ½" diameter foamy wheel I bought from the hobby store. I have found that lightweight foamy wheels sold as electric main gears, work great as tail wheels! I used needle nose pliers to bend an "L" in the bottom of the wire, slipped the tail wheel on, and finished it out with another "L" bend to keep the wheel in place. I guess you could call the finished tail wheel installation a "J" bend. My tail wheel hole was too small for the music wire, so I drilled it out to 3/32" to slide on and spin freely |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
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If you look at this pic. You will see the shadow of the tail wire running through the rudder under the control horn. It runs down from there in the hinge line, through a hole in the U-channel. Then bends back with a 90 on the last inch for a tailwheel. Mine is a piece of coat hanger. It bends easy but dos'nt hurt anything.
David |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
DaveoPam!! Admit it, you landed it there right?[8D]
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RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
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Actually, you don't need a tailwheel......A 1/8"music wire fized tail skid will work the same. The prop blast acting on the rudder is enough to manuever the plane even over tall grass..
Here's a pic of my setup Just my 2 cents worth.... |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
I would try it, but what you cant see in the pic is the sunshade overhead. LOL
david |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
I agree with Eagleone, you dont need a tailwheel.
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RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
Nope. I just finished mine, sans TW and it doesnt really need it. More power is what I need, but I do not need a TW.
Jon |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
My 36" SPA3D does not have a tail wheel any more, but it does
have a steerable wire skid :) It's amazing how well it works. I normally don't do too well with tail-draggers. The skid seems to make it easier to control on take-off. (No trips to the weeds)! My other SPA3D and QHOR have tail wheels and they are a handful during take-off :) The skid is lower, and that lifts the prop off the grass a little. The higher AOA makes take-off a little faster too. |
RE: Tail Wheel for Spa3dt
Mine are also a little sketchy with the tailwheel. I think I am going to remove mine and put a skid out there. I think I'll try a large control horn
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