In the last 50 hours or so (out of a total of 235 hrs) I have begun to develop a tailwheel shimmy problem when landing on paved runways. I had the standard Kitfox 3-leaf steel spring and the optional Alaskan Bushwheel tailwheel. I tightened the tailwheel pivot bolt as much as I dared as was suggested on this forum, and it seemed to help a little but by no means solved the problem. The pivot caster angle seemed very near vertical so it appeared the next thing was to improve this angle by rebending or getting a different tailwheel spring. I bit the bullet and ordered the Grove spring aluminum spring kit from Kitfox. It came with all the brackets and hardware and installation was a snap.

It is a much sturdier spring for backcountry flying, has a better caster angle and is somewhat longer so it raised my tail about 1.75" higher. The results are all good: after 8 landings the shimmy is all gone and it has a more stable feel on rollout. My view over the nose on taxi is improved. Another important improvement I feel is on landing; It is easier to get the tailwheel down a little ahead of the mains (Maule style) so when the mains come down the AOA decreases and sticks you to the runway-kind of like landing a tri-gear. Also if you do a standard 3-point landing the higher tail reduces the AOA so there is less tendency to balloon up in gusty wind conditions. In other words I am pleased with the results.