So in the last installment my new Lang tailwheel appeared to have a defective cap that the locking pin rides in. ACS sent out a new cap and pin and when installed the tailwheel would still not unlock. Further examination of the tailwheel determined that the ring that the locking pin rides on was soft and had developed a big divet too early to allow the pin to unlock. My best guess is that the part was not adequately hard from the get go. Mechanic got ACS to send out a new tailwheel and that was installed. I was still using the new Maule spring set and the smaller spring would allow the tailwheel to unlock but the heavy one wouldn't. We replaced the large spring with another smaller spring, that I had left over from all the other tailwheel work, and now it will unlock in both directions just like it should. The Lang is a solid tire and smaller than my Maule but the ground handling is excellent and it doesn't shimmy. It doesn't shimmy at all. Not even a little bit, ever.
So after two years of playing with it, I can finally land the airplane and not be worried about it shaking itself to death. Any body want to buy a Maule tailwheel guaranteed not to shimmy below 5 mph?
knute...
So after two years of playing with it, I can finally land the airplane and not be worried about it shaking itself to death. Any body want to buy a Maule tailwheel guaranteed not to shimmy below 5 mph?
knute...
