Wayne,
Thanks for the pics. They are worth a thousand words. I have included a
previous post below for others who may not have seen it. It describes your
method quite well and the pics confirm the details. One point that I was not
sure about was whether you had bolted through two leafs at the fuselage attach
end. Do you think bolting through the 2 is advisable? There is plenty of
material on my second leaf to do that. I purchased a spring from J.C. Whitney
here in the states. The total length of the spring is 30" from the rolled eye to
the approx center of the curl. 1 3/4" wide and each leaf is .291 thick. Part no.
18XD4470A $17.95 +12.00 shipping. It is made in the USA. I am in the process
of fitting it this week.It should work well and appears to be basically the same
spring that you have.
Good luck, you'll need it,
Rick D.
Previous posts:
Subject:
Re: Steel tail spring
Date:
Sun, 30 Jan 2000 11:04:38 +1300
From:
"Alister Yeoman" <
yeoman@voyager.co.nz>
Reply-To:
<
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com> (Murphy Rebel Builders List)
To:
"Murphy Rebel Builders List" <
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com>
I believe I have the 7075 aluminum tail spring, I have kit #513. I found it
to be too rigid for the kit tailwheel but when I put a pneumatic tailwheel
assembly on it appears to be perfectly suited. I have 200 hours on it with
no complaints.
Cheers
Alister
Yes, I have been trying to convince most to use a 3 leaf steel trailer
spring for the tail spring. Works great, doesn't significantly straighten
out over time like the Aluminum ones did, or delaminate like the fiberglass
ones do(the AULA Rebel one had 15 hours on it, so wasn't from exposure to
the elements!) and definitely helps with the C of G!
The spring I use (mine has been on for 4 years, and gets a lot of abuse!) is
from Canadian Tire, 3 leafs X 1&3/4" wide with one end having a bolt "curl"
and the other the spring leaf just bent back (doesn't really matter as you
cut it off anyway). It is rated at 950lbs 25" long. CTC # 40-8417-6. Spring
is same thickness (at 2 leaf area) as the old Aluminum and fiberglass ones
for clamping purposes at the tail post. Looking in Princess Auto's
Catalogue page 131 spring "A" item 2080096 may work also, but I wouldn't
know for sure.
The CTC spring is fitted as follows: Cut the "curl" off as tight to the curl
as possible. This is the Attach end!
Then cut the single leaf area on the other end Flush with the second leaf.
This is the Tail Wheel end!
Then disassemble the 3 leafs so you can cut 2 inches off the 3rd spring (at
the end towards the attach end). This is necessary to clear the Rudder hinge
and safety tie bolts. Reassemble the tail spring. Position spring in holder
to mark for attach bolt location (usually just enough edge distance left on
spring to do so). Remove and drill the 3/8" attach hole. Clamp tailwheel in
place and mark/drill bolt hole to match tail wheel mounting hole. Assemble
everything after coating spring with rust inhibitor or painting. (I prefer
the rust inhibitor LP3 or similar as it will keep things from rusting
between the leafs)
I <HIGHLY RECOMMEND> the SCOTT 3200 tail wheel, using Scott's Tension Spring
kit for the steering chains. Take your bank Manager with you to purchase one
however (close to $600 U.S. for the set)!!! The MAM tailwheel is too small
for anything but pavement/hard dirt flying and the Maule tail wheels can be
a shimmy nightmare (or a casting breaking nightmare, as Angus can confirm!)
If you try to use the compression style "screen door closer" springs on the
Scott tail wheel (or any) you can not run the chains tight. If you do the
spring will bottom out and then bend/crack your tail wheel steering horns,
if you have turned one way, stop and then push opposite rudder to straighten
yourself out prior to rolling straight.
Did that help any?!?!?
Blue skies,
Wayne G. O'Shea
www.irishfield.on.ca
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