Rebel tailwheel, kit from Wayne

[Bob Patterson]

Sorry to alarm you, Jesse ! I 'assumed' from your question that you
knew it was a U/L, but just wanted to be sure you did know so you wouldn't
run into problems later.... NOW, I know it ISN'T a U/L anymore !!

The tail will likely be about 70 lb - and I think you should order the
'full-swivel' upgrade kit to convert the old tailwheel, for better ground
handling - given that you'll only be flying the time off, then going to
floats. It's not a lot of money, and will save you some grief later !
Without the full-swivel, you can put some pretty high side loads on the
rear fuselage - which is one reason for Ontario Mod. #1 !

I guess you already know about all of the Ontario Mods, and
the FUS-10 to FUS-70 upgrades, all of which will be good if you use the
big engine on floats .... So carry on building, and enjoy your Rebel !

......bobp

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 09:20 pm, Jesse Jenks wrote:

I didn't mean to imply that I got a bum deal. I am happy with what I got
from Wayne. A small correction though: I started with a standard Rebel tail
kit from Murphy, and bought the rest from Wayne.
I plan to be on amphibs with at least 150 hp. So maybe the old non-swivel
tailwheel will be ok for a while. How heavy is the tail when ground
handling? can you lift it up for pushing backward?
Thanks
Jesse

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[Jesse Jenks]

I didn't mean to imply that I got a bum deal. I am happy with what I got
from Wayne. A small correction though: I started with a standard Rebel tail
kit from Murphy, and bought the rest from Wayne.
I plan to be on amphibs with at least 150 hp. So maybe the old non-swivel
tailwheel will be ok for a while. How heavy is the tail when ground
handling? can you lift it up for pushing backward?
Thanks
Jesse

From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
Reply-To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Subject: Re: Rebel tailwheel
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:21 -0400

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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[Wayne G. O'Shea]

Yah, you're right Jesse...my brains only half in gear as Leah is a bit ill
and when I flew home this morning I reached in my pocket for the hangar keys
and found that I also had the keys in my pocket to the only vehicle that is
up North. I'm scrambling here to get thru 600+ emails.... now that I have
all the bills paid/mailed or taken to the bank...and praying that the sky is
clear enough to get back up tomorrow (if not it looks like Monday!) Jesse
got wings, fuselage and all the misc, as he already had the control kit
(tailfeathers and flaperons) when we made our deal.....and I was just glad
to have the room in the shop and someone drilling holes in the kit instead
of it collecting dust. All wing/fus components required to upgrade the kit
to 1650lbs TTBOMK (and it's pretty good) where purchased and shipped to
Jesse.

Tail weight will come in around the 50 to 70 lb mark Jesse when empty. With
fuel of course it gets higher. When I get in a tight corner on skis I can
lift the tail and struggle thru the snow...but it doesn't do my umbilical
hernia any darn good!

Cheers,
Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Jenks" <jessejenks@hotmail.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:20 PM
Subject: Re: Rebel tailwheel, kit from Wayne

I didn't mean to imply that I got a bum deal. I am happy with what I got
from Wayne. A small correction though: I started with a standard Rebel

tail

kit from Murphy, and bought the rest from Wayne.
I plan to be on amphibs with at least 150 hp. So maybe the old non-swivel
tailwheel will be ok for a while. How heavy is the tail when ground
handling? can you lift it up for pushing backward?
Thanks
Jesse

From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
Reply-To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Subject: Re: Rebel tailwheel
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:21 -0400

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:

old,
old

provisions.

about

them?

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