ONX-L03 original Tailwheel replacement?

[matthait]

I have a relatively old kit ONEX #037 and I have concerns about the tail wheel.

Page ONX-LO3, reprinted in November 2013, shows the 'original?' tail wheel and how to install it. However, since then the drawing has been revised for non welded tail wheels (kinda expensive for the 4 inc, and very expensive for the 6 inch).

Is the original tail wheel safe for phase one I of test flights? Is the replacement of this with a newer model (my future plan, 6 inch once I convince my wife that the price is worth it, likely sometime after the phase I flight tests) easy? I would hate to have to pay and install a new titanium spring rod when i just installed the one that came with my kit.

Also is the tail wheel spring rod (pre-drilled) the right length? Trying to dry fit the control rod is not very easy, did anyone else have issues with this?

Very Respectfully,
Matthew
ONEX #037

[matthait]

UPDATE: the previous owners had drilled a hole in both sides of the spring rod (but not the wheel support frame), however the location of the holes was similar enough that i placed the wrong end of the spring rod into the fuselage, this resulted in a spring rod that was to short making proper tailwheel to rudder angles impossible.

Removing the rod and flipping it around resolved the dry fit issue. However, it fails to resolve the question of weather a new tailwheel assembly is requires for safety reasons or if it is only for convenience and can wait till a later purchase date.

Very Respectfully,
Matthew
ONEX #037

[sonex892.]

Hi Matthew. As far as I know there hasn't been any safety issues with the old style steel 4" tailwheel. Always best to check with Sonex or their website for safety alerts. If I understand you correctly the titanium is already drilled but the tailwheel mount isn't? If that's what you mean, and you want to drill it accurately, you might need to rig up an alignment tool to transfer the hole. Here are photos of what I did a couple of years ago to align and drill a new tail wheel to the old titanium rod.
BTW my original tailwheel had maybe 1000 landings and was still in reasonably good condition.
Steve
Sonex 892

[matthait]

Steve,

Thank you for your response.
I will attempt to drill the tailwheel today using a setup similar to what you have shown. Unless Sonex says its a saftey issue i intend to keep the original 4 inch wheel for a while. The new 6inch wheel is a want to have item, not a need to have item.

When I get a reply from Sonex I will post it bellow.

Very Respectfully,
Matthew
ONEX #037, Revmaster R-2300, taildragger

[sonex1374]

Matthew,

The original welded tailwheel assembly is still OK to use. It doesn't have some of the features of the upgraded machined 4" and 6" units, but there's no reason not to use it. If your original style tailwheel is working ok for you, keep at it!

Jeff

[matthait]

UPDATE: tailwheel is now temporarily installed.

Thank you for the photos of your setup, it helped greatly.

Very Respectfully,
Matthew
ONEX #037, Revmaster R-2300, taildragger