Help me choose a tailwheel

[whee]

I'm trying to decide on a TW but can't bring myself to pull the trigger. I'm leaning towards the Matco T-11D but I have zero experence with the Matco. George is great to talk to on the phone and said it will work great but I've yet to see any Matco TWs on heavy tailed planes like the BH.

I have some experience with the Bob Wheel but I'm not a fan. I'm still kinda considering the Tundra Bob Wheel but my experience with the original makes me think of it as a last resort. The Baby Bushwheel of out of my budget. I am considering using the Alaska Tundra Tires fork kit and putting together a TW based on the Scott 3200.

Any thoughts or experiences from anyone? Any other options I haven't considered?

[Mark Goldberg]

Of course you can do whatever you choose on your homebuilt. But I would like builders reading this forum NOT to get the impression that the Bob designed tailwheel as made by Eric Newton has been problematic. I have been running a 10" on my BH for almost 1,000 hours with no problems. I started out with a Scott 3200 that gave me LOTS of problems. And I hear very few to no complaints about the Bob wheel as manufactured by Eric by other customers.

Jon, no problem with whatever you want for your plane - but I had to step up and say some good words about what Eric builds. Mark

[whee]

That's what these forums are about Mark. I haven't any experience with the Bob wheel built by Eric and I know Bob revised it since the original design which is the one I had 40hrs with. Great to hear the ones manufactured by Eric are good!

[Battson]

What is the mission you have in mind?

What don't you like in a tailwheel?

[kestrel]

My 4 place came with a Maule TW. It shimmied so badly, it was a wheel landing only plane. It bent the horns on the bottom on the rudder and broke its sheer pin. ...flew it some as a free swivel and shimmy. Tried re-bushing it and a few other things. Replaced it with an Eric built Bob wheel and haven't had a problem since. ...except when the main attach bolt was LOOSE! ...and I do a lot of tail first landings that drop on the mains. I have hopes of getting skis on my rig, and wonder what it will take to mount a tail ski. I also hope my future flying habits will call for a bigger wheel.

--
Bearhawk

[whee]

Battson, I think my mission will be similar to yours. Lots of dirt, some gravel bars and a few payment pounding cross countries. I'm planning on 26" GY for main wheels and hopefully a set of bushwheels on a extra set of wheels for specific missions.

Only thing I know I want is something dual fork and more floatation that a standard 8". I am worried that with only 26" tires the 11" Matco will be too big and decrease my AOA enough that it will be noticeable on takeoff.

I have ~350hrs on a Maule TW and while I don't think it is as bad as others say it is bad enough that I'm not considering it at all.

[N942VT]

No experience with Eric's, but they look great. AK Bushswheel has been excellent. I think on the Bearhawk you want a pretty rugged wheel, spend the money once.

[Battson]

The BH Tailwheel from Eric is plenty rugged. I am sure I have really tested it extensively too... mine is often taxiing over rocks it's own size for hundreds of feet, the bearings hardly even wobble.

Whee - if you're thinking about a mission similar to mine, I would say that the standard width 10" tailwheel that I am using provides too little floatation on semi-soft surfaces. With any weight in the plane (back seat passengers) slightly soft gravel or sand causes the tailwheel to act like an anchor / pickaxe dragging behind the plane, digging a ditch up to the axle.

Also when I am taxiing on very large rocks, I see the tailwheel merely pushing a path between the rocks, forcing the rocks aside. It's the path of least resistance compared to rolling over the top of the rocks. Naturally this means the rocks are too large compared to the tailwheel.

I would really like a larger tire to get over rocks, and more importantly, wider tailwheel to give floatation those few times I am loaded up and taxi into something soft. Or, of course you can just add more power and drag it through. Running at lower pressure would be good too.

Incidentally, the 26" mains are floatation enough for any place the Bearhawk has business going to. I have been caught-out just once, but I was still able to taxi back and take-off without shutting down. A 100m long island made of mud with a semi-dry crust.....

[whee]

. I think on the Bearhawk you want a pretty rugged wheel

I agree.

Battson, great info about your abuse of the TW from Eric. Sounds robust and as long as it doesn't shimmy the Tundra Bob Wheel could be sweet.

My main concern when I started this thread was that a 11" wheel was going to be too big for the 26" tires I plan to run. Sounds like it should be ok. I really like what I know about the Matco wheel so I'm going to call George tomorrow and have another conversation with him about it. Maybe I should buy one and send it down to Battson for some destructive testing.

[Battson]

I have a friend here who uses the Matco on his Rans S7 for off airport work. The tailwheel looks significantly overbuilt compared to the rest of the plane.

I don't care for the look of the square wheel though.


I am guessing this is not the model you are considering?

[whee]

I don't know Battson. Looks like the same TW. I talked to George and he had no concerns about the BH being too heavy for it. He did say it would steer hard because the 11" TW is 6" wide; the 10" is 3.5" wide so would steer easier but if I'm going to be in sand or loose gravel the 11" would be better. The TWs are rated for 400lbs static and are designed for a 3G overload. I said the axle looks like a weak point and I'd be concerned about breaking it but George didn't think it would be an issue. I'm going to order one and give it a try. Might be a few years before it gets any exercise though.

[Battson]

My main concern with the design was the bending moment that could be applied to the bearings, given the long moment-arm created by the axle. From a mechanical engineering point of view, good knocks on the outside edge of the tire would put a very large torque on the centrally located bearings. I am sure you know what I mean.
Whereas the baby bushwheel has the opposite situation, and should keep the bearing loads down.

They obviously work for larger aircraft though, it looks very over-built on the Rans.

[whee]

Yes and I agree. George said they could and have installed tapered roller bearings to handle those loads but he didn't really think it was necessary.

[Wayne Massey]

Well up front I’ll admit I’m biased so take that into consideration. When I first started researching home built tailwheel airplanes my criteria consistently led me to the Bearhawk. That’s probably true for most of the members of this forum. So when someone asks you why you decided to build a Bearhawk if you’re anything like me your response is probably pretty passionate. That’s just the way we are. Bob has made a practice of making something less complicated and making it better. He even shows you how you can make it from scratch yourself if you want. Bob’s tailwheel design is… well Bob’s tailwheel design based on his philosophy – simple, better, builder friendly and affordable.

Anyone that flys tail draggers would probably agree that the tailwheel is the weakest link. A radical tailwheel shimmy or failure is a moment of elevated anxiety and potentially a grounding event. You want and need a tailwheel you can depend on. Just like I’m a believer in Bob’s Bearhawk design I’m also a believer in his tailwheel design. I wouldn’t use anything else on my Bearhawk. I’ve flown with Bob’s tailwheel design multiple times on more than one aircraft and I’ve had nothing less than great results. I’ve tested Bob’s tailwheel in multiple situations and it meets or exceeds any other tailwheel I’ve flown. I even had the opportunity (unintentionally) to test the tailwheel in gusty winds with a broken tailwheel spring and it did its job and got me out. I have not flown the Tundra design so I can’t comment on that.

Years ago initially my biggest concern to put Bob’s tailwheel on my Bearhawk was even though he offered the plans on how to build it I really felt it was out of my comfort zone to build it myself. I really wanted Bob’s tailwheel on my Bearhawk. Fortunately now if you don’t want to build it yourself there is another option.

Like I said I’m biased but there is only one choice for my Bearhawk. I would recommend either building a Bob tailwheel yourself or ordering your tailwheel from http://bhtailwheels.com/ It’s the tailwheel that was designed principally for your Bearhawk.

[whee]

Thanks Wayne. I do have 40hrs of experience with Bob's TW so I am familiar with it. It was not built by Eric of bhtailwheels.com and it was the original design so I'm sure Bob's updates have improved it. That being said my experience was not good and has tainted my view view of the Bob Wheel. It is great that others like it and I'm glad a fellow bearhawker is making a good product. I'm going to give the Matco a try.