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After the weld was cooled off I couldn't slip the tailwheel bracket on the Ti rod. Guess I got good penetration. Good thing I am the Reamer King.

After I reamed it fit was nice and tight, plus the alignment was good. Now I just have to hide the ugly weld under lots of paint.

Bryan are there any tools you are not the "King" of? I feel like my tool chest is not worthy...

Scott,
I am not the king of machine tools, though I would like to be. In truth I don't know how to use them. I am somewhat hazardous on a lathe and nobody has ever let me touch a mill.

Reamers were partly purpose bought, but I got that big box off ebay for $30. Got my killer bucking bar and cleco plier collection when they auctioned off that stuff at work. I have been collecting tools for probably 30+ years. I admit I see hobbies like homebuilding as an excuse to buy tools!

Got my tailwheel temporarily pinned on. For all you tailwheelers out there, does this look like enough travel? My sleeve repair will make for less travel than the stock setup.

For some reason the Sonex paint/powdercoat did not stand up to the oxy-acetylene torch. I guess they are not quite ready to challenge SpaceX yet. After I took this picture it was time to wire wheel and paint.

The "REAMER KING"????

Did you really say that?

Hey! Mind out if the gutter, this is a family show! :). Going back and reading it it does seem funny though.

Bryan, you can pin your mini-rudder into position and pretend to hook the pushrod from the drive horn to the tailwheel. The stops on the rudder drive horn will tell you how much travel you need. From your pic, I think you're good.

When you do this, I'd wager that you'll discover that the ends of the pushrod won't sit flush with the drive horn/tailwheel, and will end up needing to modify it in some fashion like I mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1459&hilit=tail+wheel+pushrod

I did not know there were currently active Sonex/Waiex PLANS groups/forums as you mentioned to old pilot; would you please direct me to them?Thank you very much.
Lee

That looks like way more travel than what you will probably end up with, Bryan, thanks to the rudder stops. Runways less than 40 feet in width (with no run-up areas) become a problem for me with regards to turning around. If you could have that travel shown in the pic, you may be good with 30 foot width. I would not count on having that travel, however...

Bryan Cotton wrote:Got my tailwheel temporarily pinned on. For all you tailwheelers out there, does this look like enough travel? My sleeve repair will make for less travel than the stock setup.

For some reason the Sonex paint/powdercoat did not stand up to the oxy-acetylene torch. I guess they are not quite ready to challenge SpaceX yet. After I took this picture it was time to wire wheel and paint.

Thanks Ryan and Kip!

Lee, the links are below. Note they are just for specific plans discussion, regular chit chat and questions should go in the general discussion forum.