On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 20:49:41 GMT, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 20:39:29 GMT, Jerry Springer
wrote:

Another consideration for spring
tension is whether you can get full rudder deflection in both directions with
tight springs.

And yet ANOTHER consideration (depending upon aircraft type) is whether the
tailwheel-mounting spring relaxes when the tailwheel is off the ground.
That may increase the distance between your rudder horn and your tailwheel
horn, not a good situation if your link between the two is tight on the
ground.

Ron Wanttaja

these experiences are interesting. I guess you sort it out by having a
fly of typical aircraft to see whether the results match your flying
style.

on my Tailwind the link rod and taper spring are pretty well together
and parallel when you look at them in elevation.
bouncing the tail up and down doesnt produce any noticeable movement
of the tailwheel.

tailwheels are like yellow volkswagens. you only start noticing them
when you have one at the top of your mental focus. after I sorted out
my tailwheel I started noticing them in photos. Pitts Specials quite
often have the same setup, and in articles in Sport Aviation I notice
that the setup is preferred by others with short coupled frisky
aircraft.

A friend building a Sonerai did some comparisons with all the
homebuilts on our airfield (probably 50 or so) and showed me his wing
tip rock test. you hold the wing tip and rock it up and down while
watching the tailwheel. his target was a tailwheel which didnt move
because of the rocking. of all the aircraft he looked at he said that
mine was the most rigid of the setups and the only one that didnt
wobble all over the place. oddly it is one of the lighest. it is a bog
standard Wittman tapered spring tailwheel setup in tempered SAE4140
steel. works well (though I'm not starting a religion over it :-) )

I hope the guy who posed the original question got something useful
from all of this. I thought he deserved a decent reply.
Stealth Pilot
Australia.