Tailwheel a pussycat on grass but a wild animal on pavement

Jeff,

I get that your tailwheel works good. That is great, and I'm happy for you.

But I know FOR A FACT that some Maule tailwheels have issues with going full swivel in the air. This isn't just speculation. Did you not find Budd Davisson's comments about having the rudder pedal all the way to the floor while the airplane continued in the other direction a bit odd? How would you explain that? Remember, that was on a factory built Maule aircraft.

I already am well aware of multiple aircraft equipped with Maule tailwheels having that same issue, but if you don't believe me I would think Budd Davisson's comments about flying a Maule and having "a problem" with it while landing should support what I'm saying.

It is not a disservice to point out the issue associated with the Maule tailwheel. In fact it is just the contrary. I personally know of two homebuilts that were destroyed by this issue with the Maule tailwheel. During the FAA's crash investigation of the 1st one a very experienced aircraft mechanic PROVED that the tailwheel on the aircraft could unlock prior to landing, which resulted in the pilot losing control.

Unfortunately, because it was a homebuilt they never looked further to find out exactly why it would unlock in flight, and just assigned blame to the Master CFI tailwheel instructor as a loss of control issue. But later the aircraft owner, the flight instructor, the aircraft mechanic, and myself inspected the aircraft further to learn the Avid Flyer had about 2 degrees more rudder throw one way than the other. So in flight when using full rudder delection the tailwheel would unlock every time the rudder pedal was full deflected in that one direction. The other pedal being full deflected would not unlock it.

To everyone reading this, I just don't want to see anyone get hurt or to damage their airplane because of this issue. I've been flying Avids, Kitfoxes, and Highlanders for the past 31 years. I've been around these things longer than anyone on this forum, and have flown pretty much every combination possible of these airframes. I am not just on a witch hunt against Maule tailwheels. This is a real issue.

Thanks for your brutal honesty

the student/owner I'm working with installed the Matco pneumatic TW yesterday

We flew it this morning for the first time, and all I can say is wow, what a difference.... I mean "night & day" difference (and 1 pound lighter)

In my humble opinion this is the best $210.42 any builder could spend on their KF (or any other plane with a Maule TW operated off pavement)

http://www.matcomfg.com/TAILWHEEL6PN...v-3373-13.html

even just taxiing is easier and quieter, less clanking and rattling too

I know the Maule TW has its fans and I certainly do not want to offend anyone, but I cannot see any argument in favor of the Maule TW (except possibly cost)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...P38hBHHg67NVJw

I'm glad to know someone enjoys my brutal honesty. It's not always popular :(

Sounds like the new tailwheel has helped to get the demon out of that Kitfox you're flying. I'm not surprised, but congrats!

Related to this topic, I just discovered a really good video of a Kitfox doing a full groundloop.. And then I think about what Budd Davisson described in his article about opposite rudder doing nothing, but brake did. If one pays close attention to the video of that Kitfox it appears that as soon as the tailwheel touched he went hard left until ending up in an unexpected groundloop To me that is a really good visual of what happens when a talwheel swivel unlocks in flight. But most do not have the great luck this Kitfox owner enjoyed...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by av8rps

Jeff,

I get that your tailwheel works good. That is great, and I'm happy for you....

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As a lurker THANKS! Sounds like a $200 tailwheel is cheap insurance.

Good to hear the new tailwheel made a positive difference. Why add an unnecessary level of difficulty for a student or transitioning pilot, right? I also made up a set of flat rudder pedal pads to avoid the 'hooked toe' issue for bigfoots using the factory toe brake pieces. That made all the difference in confidence for me as a new TD pilot. I think these two relatively easy and inexpensive changes might even be considered a 'must do' for a student pilot new to Kitfox (and maybe instructors too, don't ask me how I know! :rolleyes: ). A search here on pedals will locate a couple good threads with pics.

so we flew it again this morning (tues 5/17) and landed several times on the paved runway

while it is much improved it is still a bit squirly

we landed and took a really close look at the maingear, particularly the alignment...... and discovered something

while looking at the underbelly where the mains come together we noticed that one of the bungies is a bit saggy (the right one) about a 1 inch difference between the two

this also affected the height from the ground to the wingtip.....about a foot difference in height at the tips! (right wing lower)

not sure how much this would contribute to the ground handling issues, but it would definitely impart a slight right bank until the weight was off the wheels

order placed, new bungies on the way

I've been concerned over my Maule tailwheel for some time. Full deflection of the rudder will allow the tailwheel to unlock and go full swivel. I'm a little gun-shy about doing hard slips, afraid I might get a great big surprise when the tailwheel meets the pavement. I've experimented with chain tension. Looser chains results in sloppy taxiing. Less slack much improves taxiing but also causes it to unlock much easier. So now, after reading all these horror stories about the Maule, I'm paranoid and ready to order a Matco, but which one? On Wick's site I'm looking at 2 that look good. Both 6 inch, part#MT-WHLT-6P has the pneumatic tire rated for 250 lbs. The other, part# MT-TWA looks like the same assembly except it uses a solid tire but it's rated up to 450 lbs. Both weigh around 4.7 lbs. I know my tail's not that heavy but is the tailwheel rated for 250 lbs. durable enough for my model 4/1200 912? My CG tends to be a little toward the tail so I'd like to keep a light tailwheel assembly. So I'd like advice from the experts. Thanks, James Thomas

I find that if you go over the numbers at 50mph you will do a real good 3 point. this morning I landed, thought it was going to do just great and I got down to land and pulled back on the stick, well it slightly touched and then went back up to about 1 foot off and then I relaxed the stick a little and then pulled back all the way, this time the tail touched first and did a pillow landing. Might of had something to do with a tail wind of about 3 mph. a little strange but ended up real sweet. well the last three flights were in my tri rv7 might have something also to do with it.
what I'm trying to say is if you come in to fast, over 50, these airplanes do have a bit of squarely after landing. for best control after landing shoot for 50 over the numbers, then float about 1 to 2 feet off the runway and when you pull back on the stick and it doesn't go up, go full back and let it land itself. :)

I too am a bit freaked out now. I have never had any issues with the Maule, I guess... but reading this is a little spooky. One question I have is...so if you pull the swivel plate on the Maule, the tail wheel will not "break" loose and spin 360 at all? So spinning the plane around requires picking up the tail?

I too will probably go with the Matco once the consensus makes a recommendation. But in the meantime, if removing the swivel plate works, might just do that until I get the Matco.

From our experimenting the Maule is OK if you remove the swivel cam.... but it is still just ok

lots of rattling and banging while taxiing, and handles quirky

we upgraded to the Matco and it is amazing, quiet, no rattling, smooth etc

http://www.matcomfg.com/TAILWHEEL6PN...v-3373-13.html

this is the one we chose, I'm sure they are all great but this one was lighter than the Maule and just $210

I highly recommend it