Stock tailwheel pushrod

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
We made our own push rod out of thick wall alum tube , threaded ends riveted in place. Then ball joints. Works well, allows for movement as the tail spring bends. One word of advise, the bigger the tail wheel the better.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[N111YX]

Don't know why but I like to track certain things and one of them is landings in the Kolb and Waiex. I just make a note of the cumulative total in my log book next to the "landing" column. It's interesting to see how many ladings I get out of tires.

So.........Kip..........How exactly do you keep track of your landings? I was thinking........maybe......a pedometer? I couldn't use one of those for landings without converting the count into dog-years.

[Fastcapy]

Geez, I track number of landings, number of go arounds, number of low approaches, what runways I used, what winds were on takeoff and landing, who my passenger was, how many rolls, loops, etc I did if doing acro, etc.

It is so easy with electronic logbooks and I can run a query and see all these cool stats.

[Bryan Cotton]

Is your pushrod fitted the wrong way 'round?

Tony,
Now that you mention it, the other way is better but still bad.

[DCASonex]

Also made "S" bend tube for tail wheel link, but used 4130 steel with ball rod end bearings. One hint, although it requires a greater bend, place the rod end bearing on underside of both the rudder link and tail wheel control arm. When viewed from side, center of "S" link passes through approx. center of the tail spring and thus minimizes steering input from flexing of the spring. (photo available)

David A. Sonex TD

[Bryan Cotton]

Ready to tack weld one side.

[peter anson]

Here's my version, a length of 3/8" dia. 6061, drilled and tapped each end and bent to shape. The tail-spring bends a long way (try dropping the tail from about a foot some time and be amazed) so the rod-ends must be capable of large angles. These are studded 1/4" rod ends but standard rod ends may be used if the bolt through the rod end is modified for extra clearance. Sealed rod ends would be better if they existed, but this set-up has done over 180 hours and 300 landings so far.

Peter
Sonex 894
290 hours

[pfhoeycfi]

I did the rod end bearings:
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_l ... 803&row=71

I later made a new pushrod that had and "S" bend in it so the rod end bearings were more parallel with the rudder horn and the tail wheel bracket. It works very well after 220 hours and 2.5 years.

Hi I was looking at your TW pics and I see that the rod end bearings are offset a small distance from the horns. Do you have a bushing of some sort between the horn and bearing? Is the bearing 3/16 or 1/4? I am looking at aurora bearings.

My b pushrod is not going to work, not even close.

peter

[DCASonex]

If using rod end bearings and making an S bend push rod, placing the rod end for the tail wheel on the underside of the control arm puts the two rod ends in about same horizontal plane as ends of spring which minimizes unwanted steering action as the tail rod bends with load. Might be different with some tail wheels, just view from side to verify yours.

David A.