Noise Suppression for Tailwheel Vibration While Taxiing

dbroo052 · #1 11-01-2022, 09:19 PM

My experience in RV tailwheel is limited to my transition training with Alex just outside of Dallas in his RV-7. Today I took a test flight in my soon to be RV-6 and I noticed that it seemed louder than expected. The noise was just vibration in the airframe from the shopping cart tailwheel, but it did take me by surprise.

Has anyone figured out a way to try and reduce the vibration noise? I was thinking of sound dampening foam glued to the inter skin in the tail section. Low weight, cheap, and easy to install.

Anyone else dealt with this issue or is this something I should just get used to?

Thanks!

Taltruda · #2 11-01-2022, 09:27 PM

Your Tailwheel bearings are probably shot. I bought one of the light weight ones from flyboys or JD Air.. they appear the same. Then I took the old one and measured the bearings, got them from Amazon. That made a huge difference. You could also do of the pneumatic Tailwheels, but you’ll need a different yoke, plus that’s one more potential flat tire.

Sam Buchanan · #3 11-01-2022, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbroo052

My experience in RV tailwheel is limited to my transition training with Alex just outside of Dallas in his RV-7. Today I took a test flight in my soon to be RV-6 and I noticed that it seemed louder than expected. The noise was just vibration in the airframe from the shopping cart tailwheel, but it did take me by surprise.

Has anyone figured out a way to try and reduce the vibration noise? I was thinking of sound dampening foam glued to the inter skin in the tail section. Low weight, cheap, and easy to install.

Anyone else dealt with this issue or is this something I should just get used to?

Thanks!

Don’t do that. Water will get trapped against the skin and you are set up for serious corrosion. You don’t want to move the CG any more aft than it already is.

As mentioned above, good bearings will not be very noisy.

Enjoy your new ride!

alpinelakespilot2000 · #4 11-01-2022, 09:57 PM

I remember being hypersensitive to tailwheel noise like you describe during my first few flights. You’ll get used to it, but do checks that bearings aren’t grinding.

riobison · #5 11-01-2022, 11:22 PM

I went through the same thing when I bought my RV4. I upgraded to an aftermarket TW with sealed bearings. Huge improvement.

Ironflight · #6 11-01-2022, 11:47 PM

I just put a new DJM wheel on our RV-6 last weekend - the original was getting so bad it sounded like it was grinding up metal splinters when you pushed the airplane around. Dirt strip operations are hard on old, unsealed bearings…..

Dan 57 · #7 11-02-2022, 08:00 AM

it ain’t always the bearings… the original Vans wheel had a softer and higher rubber tire than the low weight my bird is sporting now.
The noise of course gets more pronounced when taxiing over some of the non-slip lines, or grooved runways (any in the US?).

But I still find the noise as a non issue, and you’ll hopefully spend more time in the air than driving around, enjoy

PhatRV · #8 11-02-2022, 08:09 AM

Has anyone thought about installing the steering damper often found on sport bikes. The unit is small and it damps the large vibrations caused by the motorcycle front wheel hitting the pavement hard after the rider popped a wheelie.

Here is a picture of what I am talking about and size reference. The unit is built for motorcycle and it is designed for light weight, probably a great add-on for our RVs. Some enterprising builders with machine tool can probably modify it for the tailwheel RVs

Jpm757 · #9 11-02-2022, 08:53 AM

I switched to the Flyboys 8" Condor Pneumatic T/W with a Rocket Link, as well as 380X150 tires. Good set up for soft field operations.

daddyman · #10 11-25-2022, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbroo052

My experience in RV tailwheel is limited to my transition training with Alex just outside of Dallas in his RV-7. Today I took a test flight in my soon to be RV-6 and I noticed that it seemed louder than expected. The noise was just vibration in the airframe from the shopping cart tailwheel, but it did take me by surprise.

Has anyone figured out a way to try and reduce the vibration noise? I was thinking of sound dampening foam glued to the inter skin in the tail section. Low weight, cheap, and easy to install.

Anyone else dealt with this issue or is this something I should just get used to?

Thanks!

I had a -4 with a noisy tailwheel. It worked well enough yet was a source of embarrassment on the ground.
My fix: swapped to a pneumatic matco tailwheel. Loved it.
Daddyman