On 12/12/2012 9:02 PM, Bill D wrote:

Course the tailwheel could be retractable . . . more complex and
expensive. Cost/ benefit?
bumper

Well, that's a point. As I imagine it, the tailwheel would extend
only 5mm further than one of those breakaway rubber things with a
skate wheel. That far back, the boundary layer is pretty thick so not
much extra drag - probably less than an open air scoop.

This is not one of those things for retrofit - the 337 field approval
hassle wouldn't be worth it but it would be a nice feature on a new
glider or an experimental. The idea isn't for taxiing, it's just to
make it easier to push the glider off the runway without running to
get a tail dolly. Of course, nothing in the idea would prevent using
a tail dolly for really rough ground.

The Grob tail wheel that plugs in always seemed like a good idea: full
dolly size wheel for moving it around, drops off during launch if you
forget it, small and light enough to carry in the glider, seemingly
minor weight addition to the glider to use it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)