What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Tailwheel Castor

DMFenster

Well Known Member
So I have been having issues with controllability when the tail comes down on my 8. I recently went on a long trip and mounted a gopro under a wing to grade my landings. I noticed my tailwheel would shimmy when it touched down. I reached out to this guy:
Blake Frazier @ Flyboy Accessories
He suggested changing my tailwheel angle so the nut points aft. My tailwheel nut tilted forward about 4 degrees.
So I bought a HF tubing bender and put about an 8 degree bend in my TW spring - now my tailwheel nut tilts aft about 4 degrees. Huge difference. If anybody wants to bend theirs, I am in Culpeper VA (KCJR). Let me know and we can bend yours.

Dave


 
I didn’t know you could bend those springs that much permanently. Good to know. I know that the tailwheel bolt is supposed to have a negative castor, but don’t know that I’ve ever seen it on an RV, except the RV14 that has a more robust, and curved (I believe) tail spring - at least the one RV14 TD I saw at Oshkosh had one. It may not have been a stock unit.

I don’t think I’ve ever had the tailwheel shimmy, but I have broken one of those steering links, so maybe there was a shimmy right at first after landing. I know that my landings were better, and easier with the broken (removed) steering link - waiting for a new one. I eventually went to the ugly door springs and it was an instant improvement.
 
Last edited:
I did the tailspring bend a while back using a HF 12 ton tubing bender. The smallest die worked great. Now I have a hydraulic bender sitting in my shop with just one use. Too heavy to ship.
 
For those of you that have done this, how did you bend the spring to ensure the tail wheel remains perpendicular to the ground, and not canted off left or right?
 
Back
Top