Javabeans
30cc
I got tired of fixing tail wheels early on. I don't like the small wheel getting caught on things and so many planes have a very flimsy design that I could break all too easily. About a year ago I decided to try a few things in place of the tail wheel and what I finally came up with is a very simple carbon fiber rod, either taped to the bottom of the plane (quick replacement for a broken tail wheel) or built into the fuselage.
I have been doing this for quite a while and received a lot of positive comments at my field, but didn't want to post it online. Then someone complained about their tail wheel in another forum and I decided to show what I did. As far as I can tell, all planes I have put a CF skid onto have turned just as well on the ground as if the had a wheel.
My newest plane is an EF 64" MXS that I just started to assemble last night and the first thing I did was to install a CF rod into it as a tail skid. I thought I would post pictures here and share this with anyone else who feels like I do about tail wheels. It just so happens that using a CF skid protects the rudder when touching the tail and also allows for a very low harrier that lets you drag the tail of the plane on the ground as you go down the runway... I have a ball with it.
Here are some pictures of the MXS and plan-built model that I recently made for a contest at my club.
I have been doing this for quite a while and received a lot of positive comments at my field, but didn't want to post it online. Then someone complained about their tail wheel in another forum and I decided to show what I did. As far as I can tell, all planes I have put a CF skid onto have turned just as well on the ground as if the had a wheel.
My newest plane is an EF 64" MXS that I just started to assemble last night and the first thing I did was to install a CF rod into it as a tail skid. I thought I would post pictures here and share this with anyone else who feels like I do about tail wheels. It just so happens that using a CF skid protects the rudder when touching the tail and also allows for a very low harrier that lets you drag the tail of the plane on the ground as you go down the runway... I have a ball with it.
Here are some pictures of the MXS and plan-built model that I recently made for a contest at my club.