Tailwheel a pussycat on grass but a wild animal on pavement

I agree tbat you need to make sure the tailwheel is set up as recomended, as that can make a huge difference in handling. Also the same goes for checking landing gear for being straight (there have been many issues with that over the decades).

But if it were me, and it is a Maule tailwheel (as I suspect it is), just remove the swivel cam plate with the one screw on tbe back of the pivot shaft, and then go out and fly it. If it is now a *****cat on pavement too, the problem is in the tailwheel . Either with tbe setup, or with tbe tailwheel. All removing that cam plate does is disable the full swivel function, the tailwheel still turns with the rudder. That tailwheel has wrecked a lot of Kitfoxes, Avids, and even a few Highlanders. And many pilots thought it was just them, when it wasn't.

Interesting, so the Maule tailwheel problems (which are legendary) are due to the full swivel function?

we are going to upgrade to a pneumatic Matco anyway

will the Matco also have full swivel? does it stay locked more reliably? better cam?

Never had ANY problems with my Maule tailwheel in ten years, the legendary
problems ... to me would be more mythical than legendary. Maybe people just
don't set them up right ....

Jeff

I suspect you are right... about the set up being part of the problem

yesterday the owner/student removed the small but noticable amount of slack out of the tailwheel springs/chains

we flew it again this morning and its much better, we will work on main gear alignment and removing the tailwheel castering cam this week in the hopes of improving it further until the Matco Pneumatic TW gets here

I agree that setting it up properly is important, but if you read Budd Davissons pirep on a Maule, even he discovered the tailwheel issue.

http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepMauleM-7-235C.html.

Here's the paragraph in that pirep that gives it away

"Another semi-strange thing happened when I was flying it in a switchy little 7 knot, 90° crosswind. I'd touched down and it tried to turn into the wind. I put in rudder, then more rudder. Soon, the rudder was against the floor but the airplane was still turning left. Since everything was happening so slowly, just for the heck of it I let it continue to see if the rudder or tailwheel would catch it. They didn't and I had to tap the right brake which straightened it out immediately. The demonstrated crosswind component of the airplane is only 12 knots, which is probably conservative, but it does require some pilot attention in that area."

So the way I read that, Budd experienced a small sampling of a Maule tailwheel issue. But he didn't really recognize what was happening. And being Budd, who is teaching in a Pitts S-2 when he's not writing, he easily overcame the issue. But he was flying a Maule aircraft with a Maule tailwheel set up by Maule! Shouldn't they be able to at least get it right on their own airplane? There's a reason so many Maules get wrecked and insurance companies don't like insuring them unless they have a nosewheel. Now don't get me wrong, I like Maule airplanes. But their tailwheel has a lot of issues. It is legend, not myth.

I don't like bashing anyones product, but in this case I would be doing a disservice to my friends here not to explain the truth of what is known and proven as an issue with the Maule tailwheel.

Fortunately, some Maule tailwheels work well for some guys. Unfortunately, thinking they all work well doesn't help those who are having issues with theirs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by azsportpilot

Interesting, so the Maule tailwheel problems (which are legendary) are due to the full swivel function?

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For the record, I have never experienced a Matco tailwheel do what the Maule does. And I have never heard of people having the same issue with the Matco as the Maule has.

And granted, anyone can ground loop any taildragger. But when equipped with a Maule tailwheel that isn't working right, it is HIGHLY LIKELY an average pilot is going to have a problem keeping that airplane in one piece. I know that for a fact as I have flown good ones, as well as bad ones. So I can tell you, if you get a bad one you will wanna kiss the ground when you get back on the ground without wrecking anything.

I will fly an airplane equipped with a Maule tailwheel, but not unless I get the chance to test it with the fuselage leveled, or I remove the cam plate. In fact, my Highlander has a worn out Maule that works just fine with the cam plate removed. But two of my friends that are high time tailwheel guys (one is a for real bush pilot in Canada) were scared to death to fly the Highlander on pavement. As soon as I bought the Highlander I removed that plate and it is just fine on pavement. But I do have a new tailwheel to put on it one of these days.

But again, if you disable the full swivel feature by removing that cam plate from tbe Maule tailwheel, you will not have that issue. I proved that so far on 3 different airplanes. They all were monsters that couldn't be tamed. But remove that simple little cam and they went from scary to easy instantly.

The simple test on a Maule tailwheel is to have someone move the rudder pedals back and forth full travel while having the fuselage leveled. If the tailwhhel "breaks" into a full swivel in that test you have something wrong (typically it will only do that in one direction not both). The full swivel feature should only engage with inertia pushing on the tailwheel (only on the ground). It should not unlock with rudder movement alone. But apparently if you have too much rudder throw one direction or the other, the swivel feature will engage. And contrary to what most would think, the springs and chains being tight will make it worse, not better.

If it does unlock with rudder you probably need to reduce the rudder horn throw / travel, or you may have some worn tailwheel parts. Or the angles the tailwheel is mounted could be an issue?

Maule is a 100% perfectly fine tailwheel if it is set up correctly. It's really
a disservice to people to keep badmouthing them. Yes if you ignore the
setup you can have problems, but you can have problems with lots of things
if they aren't setup right.

I'll credit your comment about checking it, but to simply suggest Maule is
bad, is really off base.

I have one. It is a good working, rock solid, very rugged tailwheel, and
it didn't cost as much as a Scott, I've been happy with mine since day
one.

Regards,
Jeff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peteohms

I used to have the same problem on my Kitfox III. some of it was my big clodhoppers touching the brakes on landing. The rest was tailwheel. I have a new Matco 8" and apparently I don't hit the brake with my feet anymore. No problems anymore.

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I have been watching this thread with interest. I switched to the Homebuilders Special tailwheel from the Maule with about 200 hours on my first Model IV and put the same tailwheel on my current IV with no issues with Maule or HBS in 1100 hours. That said, though, with the new airplane it came with the then - 1992 - standard "C" rudder pedals rather than the "E" pedals I had on the first IV - 1993 vintage. With the new - older vintage - airplane, I had no end of problems with the brakes. Locking up, linings cracking, over heating causing fluid leakage were all consistent with riding the brakes. With the hours I had on the Model IV, my brake pedal problem wasn't reflected in control issues, though. I wonder if the pedal angle and the almost certainty of taxiing while producing some unintended braking might possibly be something to look at as well. I say this because, as I recall, the original post mentioned an abrupt turn one way, then the other. That would be consistent with inadvertent braking on one side while landing, then with the unexpected movement of the airplane, reflex rudder to the other side, again with inadvertent braking. this phenomenon wouldn't be as noticeable on grass. I suggest this might be worth checking. An easy first check would be to simply touch the brake disk after landing, checking for excessive heat.

Lowell,

I think inadvertent braking may have played a role in some of our pavement landing problems.... there is very little room for your feet on the rudder pedals on this model 3... I think they call them "C" pedals.... the toe brake has an arm on the side that is easy to accidentally actuate while resting your foot on the lower part of the pedal

I think shoe selection becomes very important with this type of rudder pedal arrangement (no work boots etc)

that said.... even after we made sure we were not depressing the brakes, it still seems that the tailwheel will on occasion unlock and go into full caster mode on rollout causing a lot of stress after a perfectly good landing

I flew my kitfox in socked feet for quite a few hours at the beginning .

I wore too combat boot style of footwear when I went to test fly and purchase , so I flew it in socks, I liked the sensitivity or feel for the pedals in socks :)

I have since graduated to a nice comfortable thinner soled walking shoe :D

Maybe this would help in getting the "feel"