Brief Description: Correction to Tail Wheel Mounting
Put the aircraft back into the hanger after the taxi test and set the tail up on a work bench. The angle of the wheel mount was too far forward with the present configuration. Evaluated the options of making changes and decided to turn the mounting arm of the tail wheel over. The tail wheel assembly was removed from the aircraft. The tail wheel mount on the end of the arm was removed and the arm was installed back on the aircraft upside down from its original position. The tail wheel was installed back on the end of the arm and the aircraft was placed back on the ground. This resulted in the angle of the tail wheel in relation to the ground being too far back to support effective turning of the wheel left and right. The arm was again removed from the aircraft and about 2/3 of the curve was removed from the arm with a hydraulic press. The arm was again put back on the aircraft with the curve pointing down and the tail wheel mounted on the end. This resulted in a configuration where the tail wheel was trailing the aircraft by a small amount and was vertical enough to support effective turning by the rudder cables. The next taxi test will determine how effective the configuration is.
