What tailwheel is this?

birdus

birdus

Line Up and Wait
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Jay Williams
What tailwheel is this? Forget the little hubcap I'm holding. It's the wrong one...i.e., not for this tailwheel. By the way, I'm trying to find the correct hubcap. The one I bought is for a Maule. It's definitely the wrong one!

20220806_065220.jpg 20220806_065231.jpg
 
I assume it's on his Luscombe. Looks like a Lang?
 
GeorgeC said:
I assume it's on his Luscombe. Looks like a Lang?
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Yes. It's on my Luscombe. I guess I didn't mention that because it seems irrelevant. In other words, it seems like there's a lot of mixing and matching of these things. Probably should've mentioned in nonetheless.

By the way, someone else mentioned a Scott 2000. I don't have a clue.
 
Luscombe was my first thought when I saw the tailwheel, so I’d assume it’s original equipment. From the TCDS:
14/205. Tail wheel assemblies
(a) Luscombe, 3 in.
(b) Universal Alloy G-4 or GLD-4 or GLD-19
(c) Luscombe, 6 in. (dwg. 48338)
(d) Heath G1A, 6 in., steerable
(e) Scott 3-24-B, 6 x 2.00, steerable
(f) Maule SFS-1-4 or SAFS-14
(g) Decker D-501, steerable. Installation requires modified rudder
in accordance with either (1) or (2) or NOTE 7.
(h) Maule SFS-1-4-P8
 
If you have the airframe logs, installation should be logged somewhere in there.

(Unless its OE, as MauleSkinner suggested as I was typing this)
 
MauleSkinner said:
Luscombe was my first thought when I saw the tailwheel, so I’d assume it’s original equipment. From the TCDS:
14/205. Tail wheel assemblies
(a) Luscombe, 3 in.
(b) Universal Alloy G-4 or GLD-4 or GLD-19
(c) Luscombe, 6 in. (dwg. 48338)
(d) Heath G1A, 6 in., steerable
(e) Scott 3-24-B, 6 x 2.00, steerable
(f) Maule SFS-1-4 or SAFS-14
(g) Decker D-501, steerable. Installation requires modified rudder
in accordance with either (1) or (2) or NOTE 7.
(h) Maule SFS-1-4-P8
Click to expand...

That narrows it down! :D
 
It is a round tail wheel, which works better that the square ones....
 
I agree that it appears to be a Lang, which is the same thing as a Decker. As noted on the TCDS if it’s used on a Luscombe the rudder needs to be in the right configuration: either a round rudder with the bottom cut off (I believe there was a SB covering this mod and the result is a bit ugly), or a later square rudder. The latter came with the bottom already cut off for tailwheel clearance.

A Scott 3-24-B (later called the 2000) is rare and expensive but is the best tailwheel IMHO on a Luscombe. As well as having a nice mechanism, it doesn’t have the Lang style lump on the top and clears an unmodified round rudder as long as turned down rudder brackets for the tail wheel chains are used so that the chains don’t hit the bottom of the rudder either. There’s also a SB for those brackets if the plane doesn’t already have them and I think they’re a good idea.

There’s a lot to know about Luscombe tailwheels and their installation. The first prewar planes originally came with non-steerable castering tailwheels and the factory didn’t properly develop the steerable tailwheel installation for quite a while post-war.
 
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So, I went through all my documentation, not with a fine-tooth comb, but pretty thoroughly. It's cool having all the history of my plane.
  • When the plane was manufactured (Dec. 19th, 1946), the tailwheel was (apparently) a Maule SFS-1-4.
  • When the plane was worked on by Doug Combs on May 15th, 2002, he wrote in the logbook "Repaired Scott tailwheel and steering."
A couple pages I found with a big list of items were called:

Index of published Luscombe service documents

One of them says "Installation of Scott tailwheel", dated 2/5/45 (the year before my plane was manufactured). Compliance is marked "y". I don't know what this means.

So, it's not clear to me whether, when the plane rolled off the assembly line, it had a Maule SFS-1-4 tailwheel or a Scott tailwheel. If the tailwheel was changed out to another brand sometime in the past 76 years, I didn't see it (but certainly could've missed it, or the documentation is missing).

One other question: should my tailwheel (probably bracket, etc.) have info stamped on it or cast into it? If the answer is "yes," then I'll take some rags to the airport, lie down on my belly, wipe things down, and hunt for it. Of course, it's probably on the surface that's clamped against the spring.
 
birdus said:
So, I went through all my documentation, not with a fine-tooth comb, but pretty thoroughly. It's cool having all the history of my plane.
  • When the plane was manufactured (Dec. 19th, 1946), the tailwheel was (apparently) a Maule SFS-1-4.
  • When the plane was worked on by Doug Combs on May 15th, 2002, he wrote in the logbook "Repaired Scott tailwheel and steering."
A couple pages I found with a big list of items were called:

Index of published Luscombe service documents

One of them says "Installation of Scott tailwheel", dated 2/5/45 (the year before my plane was manufactured). Compliance is marked "y". I don't know what this means.

So, it's not clear to me whether, when the plane rolled off the assembly line, it had a Maule SFS-1-4 tailwheel or a Scott tailwheel. If the tailwheel was changed out to another brand sometime in the past 76 years, I didn't see it (but certainly could've missed it, or the documentation is missing).

One other question: should my tailwheel (probably bracket, etc.) have info stamped on it or cast into it? If the answer is "yes," then I'll take some rags to the airport, lie down on my belly, wipe things down, and hunt for it. Of course, it's probably on the surface that's clamped against the spring.
Click to expand...
I don't suppose the airplane has an equipment list as part of the W&B paperwork?
 
Dan Thomas said:
I don't suppose the airplane has an equipment list as part of the W&B paperwork?
Click to expand...

Yes.

"When the plane was manufactured (Dec. 19th, 1946), the tailwheel was (apparently) a Maule SFS-1-4."
 
birdus said:
So, I went through all my documentation, not with a fine-tooth comb, but pretty thoroughly. It's cool having all the history of my plane.
  • When the plane was manufactured (Dec. 19th, 1946), the tailwheel was (apparently) a Maule SFS-1-4.
  • When the plane was worked on by Doug Combs on May 15th, 2002, he wrote in the logbook "Repaired Scott tailwheel and steering."
A couple pages I found with a big list of items were called:

Index of published Luscombe service documents

One of them says "Installation of Scott tailwheel", dated 2/5/45 (the year before my plane was manufactured). Compliance is marked "y". I don't know what this means.

So, it's not clear to me whether, when the plane rolled off the assembly line, it had a Maule SFS-1-4 tailwheel or a Scott tailwheel. If the tailwheel was changed out to another brand sometime in the past 76 years, I didn't see it (but certainly could've missed it, or the documentation is missing).
Click to expand...
But it looks like you actually don't have all the history, lol... and it wouldn't be the first plane I'm aware of that had a tailwheel entry missing. I *think* my plane might have actually come from the factory with just a skid!
 
RyanShort1 said:
But it looks like you actually don't have all the history, lol... and it wouldn't be the first plane I'm aware of that had a tailwheel entry missing. I *think* my plane might have actually come from the factory with just a skid!
Click to expand...

Cool! Now THAT'S a tail dragger! Really!
 
birdus said:
Yes.

"When the plane was manufactured (Dec. 19th, 1946), the tailwheel was (apparently) a Maule SFS-1-4."
Click to expand...
Plenty of equipment lists never get amended when stuff is changed or added or subtracted.
 
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