AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

On my Liki Tiki I'd like to install a hidden tail wheel inside the rudder. I'm thinking of haveing a thin wheel well in the rudder made of light ply. I'll water proof it and have one side removable, held in place with three sheet metal screws. The wheel will have a short axle that will be epoxyed in place so wheel and axle will move together. The ends of the axles will fit into holes in the lite ply sides. Dose anyone here have any experience with this or can let me no of any unforeseen problems?

WeLaserCut

My old Curare had this exact set up.
I would sugest that you not use any plywood in the system though. As soon as the wheel rotates a few times, whatever paint you have used will quickly be worn off. Bare plywood and water are a bad combination.
If you can use plastic or aluminum instead it will work just fine.

Peter

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Certainly makes for a clean installation. Two possible problem areas to be aware of in addition the the one Climate mentioned, First this puts far more loads in a different direction on the hinges than a more conventional set up with the possibility of doing more damage than normal in a poor landing. The other may not be a real problem and that is it offers no opportunity to have a different tailwheel throw from the rudder throw. Many airplanes do of course have direct coupling but for those that can have differential throws it is sometimes helpful to be able to fine tune them separately. This is a moot point if you have Dual rudder rate capability.

Go for it, and let us and know how it goes.

John

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

I had a simalar set up in a fun-fly type plane that was passed down to me, It use a metal washer as a wheel, It worked well, just was very loud on the taxi ways.
A simple aluminum/o-ring wheel could be made easily with a drill press and a small file. a plywood wheel wouldn't last long, unless you use it only on a grass runway

I know $.02 doesn't buy what it once did.
Good luck

McGuiver

The Profile Hots has a similar Rudder/Tail wheel set up. I can't say how well it worked as I went with a larger wheel on an inset wire, but I can't see any reason that it would not work. I would how ever us aircraft grade ply as I feel lite ply is not much stronger then balsa. I would also coat the opening with epoxy, gluing both ply sides on as the axle can be as simple as a bolt through the Rudder/ply. and last but not least add one or two more hinges to the Rudder to support the extra loads.