Stock tailwheel pushrod

[Bryan Cotton]

I have my mixer locked in place, mini rudder in place and my cables are adjusted and pinned. The pushrod does not seem close. I was thinking rod ends, but weight is the enemy and some of you seem to have done fine with the stock setup. I am thinking of welding up one that fits rather than doing some crazy S bend.

[Bryan Cotton]

Here is my pushrod:


I have 4130 stock and have started to fabricate one that fits.

[Corby202]

I kept the stock pushrod because of weight, I fitted bushes each end 65 hrs, so far so good.

Phil

[Area 51%]

What keeps the motion of the tailspring from transferring to the rudder horn and causing it distress with the stock unit? It seems heim joints would be a requirement in this application.

I believe I saw Ryan had to put a significant bend in his rod to get the flanges to line up.

[N111YX]

This the reason that I went with the rod end option. I had heard, but not personally experienced, that the steel bolts could elongate the aluminum holes after use. Since lots of shock is transferred through these pieces with every imperfection of an operating surface, I would guess that soft field/grass operators would see the most benefit.

Mine is as new after 960 landings with perhaps 20 or so of those on grass :D

What keeps the motion of the tailspring from transferring to the rudder horn and causing it distress with the stock unit? It seems heim joints would be a requirement in this application.

I believe I saw Ryan had to put a significant bend in his to get the flanges to line up.

[mike.smith]

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.

[Bryan Cotton]

I like the stock setup with the bushing idea. I'll try that and I can always upgrade later if I need to.

[tonyr]

Is your pushrod fitted the wrong way 'round?

[Area 51%]

I got a very nice pneumatic tail wheel assembly from Peter Anson a while back. He also has available an offset steering rod, complete with heim joints. I plan on installing one of those on our Waiex when the time comes.

[Area 51%]

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.