Great article! Especially the vernacular. More folks ought to write
like people speak.
I had a little airplane once that used a shopping cart caster in
the back. Ball bearings in the wheel AND the pivot. The spring
appeared to be a leaf off a small car. Lots of older cars and many
newer pickups in the junkyard have leaf springs in back. Should be
easy to find suitable spring stock.
Was always wondering what putting a chunk of flint on the skid
might look like at night. Make those tower dwellers call the fire
engines, maybe. Firemen need the practice.
And whether an airplane has a shopping cart caster or a "piecea
wood" instead of a "real" tailwheel, the pilot still has to be a real
pilot who knows how to use his feet...

Dan