Question for the Buzzards who fly off paved airports. What do you use for a tailwheel? My stock tailwheel is giving up the ghost after maybe 2 dozen landings and i need to replace it.
Chris
Remember, in aviation death sentences are administered by the laws of physics, not the FAA.
From my own experience of MiniMax tail wheels, I'd suggest treating your rubber tail-wheel as a consumable item and plan to replace it, especially if you use hard runways.
They cost bugger-all and are a two-minute job to replace. Don't worry, be happy.
I use Part # 06-02988 from Ac Spruce. They are 6 inch dia, and weigh-in about 2.5 lbs, but work well on paved runways. AN8 bolt can be used as axle ( AN8-26 or 27 bolts ). Wheels have ball bearings for axle already pre-installed.
You could also try wheels for inline roller skates or skateboards. They seem to come in various sizes, from around 60mm (2.4") up to around 110mm (4.3") in diameter, and most of them have ball bearings installed. They seem to use an 8mm (around 5/16") size axle, but I'm sure the AN6 bolt could be taken down to an equivalent size. For the AN4 bolt it might be necessary to use a sleeve to get it up to 8mm.
The advantages of using these wheels are that they are cheap and plentiful, come in lots of different styles and colours and you can get ones that flash as they turn as well, so you can impress the onlookers when you taxy around.
I just had a look on Ebay to see what the prices are like, and for a pack of 4 wheels sized 64mm (2.5"), with fitted bearings, and that have LED lights in them, the price was around $15.
If it flies, floats or fornicates.... rent it! Flight Leader
Posts: 181
Time Online: 3 days 18 hours 44 minutes
If you were in the UK, it's a well known fact that you can buy them at Tesco (think Walmart but smaller). 4 for £1.00 although I believe some stores have stopped charging £1.00 deposit for their trollies
If you were in the UK, it's a well known fact that you can buy them at Tesco (think Walmart but smaller). 4 for £1.00 although I believe some stores have stopped charging £1.00 deposit for their trollies
You can see that the ad is for a pair of the wheels, and the postage was free. So the total cost to me was £11.99, or around $16 - $18. I'm sure in the States you must have similar items available, as these wheels all come from China, and the quality I found to be quite good.
These wheels have a hard(ish) solid rubber tyre and two small roller bearings in the hub, one each side. The ID of the bearings is 12mm, and I have made up a sleeve that is 12mm OD and 9mm ID, so that it will slide onto the 5/16" axle easily. I might put some shimming inside the sleeve to make it fit on the axle a bit better, and I'll put large penny type washers on each side to make sure it stays where I want it on the axle. Then I won't have to worry about the axle and wheel overheating again. The reason I say 'again' is because other day I was practising taxying the 'max around our field, and when I went to lift the back of the plane by the tailwheel so that I could walk it backwards into the hangar, the middle of the wheel was too hot to touch.
That's after less than an hour since I greased it up and fitted it last. So I'm hoping that by fitting proper bearings I won't have that problem again.
However, now that I've cured the tailwheel of overheating, I'm wondering about the front wheels.
On my 'max I've got a pair of Azusa 6" alloy wheels. These have been fitted with bronze bushes so that they'll fit on the 1" axle. I'm wondering if I can replace the bronze bushing with needle rollers to reduce friction? Has anyone on here ever replaced the bronze bushes in the wheels with proper bearings? If so, can you let me know the OD of the bronze bushes, and the width of the bearings I'd need to replace them with?
I've managed to source needle rollers that have an ID of 1" and an OD of 1-5/16" in various widths, from 1/2" to 1". I've also been in contact with Azusa in the US and asked them about their wheels, as they sell them with either 5/8" ID rollers or 3/4" rollers, but not 1" ID roller bearings. According to the bloke at Azusa I spoke to (via email) the OD of the bearings is 1-3/8", but I couldn't find any needle rollers that size that also had a 1" ID. So if any of you know the actual dimensions of the bearings I'd need for the conversion, I'd be very grateful if you could pass that information on.
If it flies, floats or fornicates.... rent it! Flight Leader
Posts: 181
Time Online: 3 days 18 hours 44 minutes
Bob, The problem with trying to change the bronze bushes for bearings is that the wheels aren't super accurately made. The two halves come from castings. I had to put up all 4 halves of mine onto the lathe so I could machine the bushes for my disc brake conversion (it's a real nip and tuck job getting all the components onto the standard length axle). Runout on the lathe was horrendous!
The reality is that providing you use some decent grease, the bushes v steel axle will do the job well enough for a long time.
Logged
