Rebel tailwheel- Wayne

[Bob Patterson]

Sorry Wayne !! I knew you would not have sold him a U/L kit without
telling him, but thought it had perhaps changed hands again, and the current
builder might not realize it was a U/L. NOW, I know that it WASN'T a U/L
anymore, that you upgraded all of the important bits !!

I certainly didn't mean to even suggest that you would have misled him !!
Just wanted to warn someone who might not have realized or remembered what he
bought .... I'm not the only one with bad memory, but it seems to be getting
worse ! ;-) :-)

.......bobp

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 08:26 pm, Wayne G. O'Shea wrote:

Now Bob...don't go scaring him without checking in!!!

"Good 'ol Wayne" purchased brand new .063 main spars, new un-lightened rear
spars, skins for tailfeathers, 1650 gear legs, new MAM 3 piece wheels and
axles and a LOT of $$$$ of parts to upgrade the kit to the latest
standards.....including cutting fresh oversized .040 tanks skins and a host
of other things. Trust me...I lost money and Jesse got a full Rebel kit
other than possibly the optional tail wheel swivel kit. Figured the
tailwheel would get thrown away and replaced with a real one anyhow.

)
Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Patterson" <beep@sympatico.ca>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: Rebel tailwheel

Hi Jesse !

That would be the old ULTRALIGHT Rebel kit, I guess - it has thinner
spars, thin skins, and an all-fabric tail ... and a low gross weight
(originally 1,057 lb).

You are lucky !! I love the fiberglass springs, and will continue
to use them on my Rebels as long as I can get them !! They absorb shocks
well, and have a very benign failure mode - they delaminate & let you
down slowly..... Much better than steel springs, that just snap !
And infinitely better than the solid chunk of aluminum that now comes
as a "spring" - these can work IF you machine/grind them down to
taper from about 1" thick (!) to under 1/2" at the tailwheel attach end.

You should, of course, do Ontario Mod. #1 - a doubler over FUS-30,
to tie the top bulkhead, rudder post, and front triangular pieces

together,

to better distribute the loads. Even if you are building as an ultralight

!

This is one area that field experience has provided a 'fix' for - and
it IS necessary !

The old, original tailwheel worked great - Rebel #001 is still

flying

with that tailwheel ! It is a bit awkward for ground handling - you can't
push it backwards !! Fortunately, the old tailwheel can be retrofitted to
become a full-swivel wheel, as now shipped. There was an upgrade kit
shipped 'way back about 1993 for this, and all the parts are still

available.

This is a worthwhile thing to do - it makes ground handling much easier,
and will reduce the radius of your turns, as well.

What engine are you planning ??

......bobp

PS
If you are not going to use the fiberglass spring, you can toss it
my way ! :-)

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 12:27 pm, Jesse Jenks wrote:

Interesting discussion. I got an older kit from Wayne O. It has the old,

old

tailwheel mentioned by someone in this thread, with no castoring

provisions.

I also got a fiberglass spring. Since nobody responded to the query

about

how the old style tailwheel works I will ask again. Any comments on

them?

Thanks,
Jesse

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