On 08 Nov 2003 01:42 PM, Dan Thomas posted the following:

Can anyone tell me what this thing weighs? It looks like it might
be a bit heavy, with the massive steel pivot housing and ball bearing.
It also might lack control authority in an incipient groundloop, as
the steering pivot is a long way ahead of the tire contact point. Too
much castering tendency.

I don't know what the tailwheel weighs, but keeping in mind that the
airplane it was designed for (the Barrows Bearhawk) has a maximum gross
weight of 2500 pounds on wheels (we get 2700 on floats), and is intended
for short/rough field work, a little extra beef is understandable. As
for the distance between the steering pivot and the tire contact point,
the owner of that particular tailwheel is using an 8" wheel, but had the
unit built to take a 10" wheel if he chooses to install one later on.
Several builders are installing even bigger wheels for bush work,
although a good friend of mine who is a bush pilot prefers the standard
narrow Scott wheel on his Super Cub, saying it is less likely to hang up
on something.

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Del Rawlins-
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