I am not sure that I am going to be able to describe this, but thought I'd share my experience in case anyone else has this annoying problem....
I changed from a Van's tail wheel to an API Assembly probably six months after first flight - at maybe 150 hours total time. Works great, feels good - an excellent product. The only maintenance it requires is an occasional cleaning - very occasional as it turns out, maybe twice in a year and a half. I have always carefully inspected the little detent and plunger for burs that might cause it to hang up, and quite frankly, it has been trouble free with a little grease.
A few months back, however, I started to notice a funny problem. On a long straight taxi, I usually have just very slight pressure on the right peddle. After a hundred feet or so, I'd realize that the tail wheel had "broken free" - if I pushed right peddle, I got rudder, but no tail wheel steering. Returning the peddles to neutral reengaged it, and I could steer without trouble. It was only if I kept a very gentle pressure on that it "crept out" and went free. Pushing to the left was perfectly normal - locked up until enough deflection was reached, then broke out.
Of course, I took the thing apart, cleaned, inspected, grease, and re-assembled it a couple times. Same results. I looked at all parts wit a loup, and found no burs. I finally decided that maybe the slot in the control arm was worn - after all, it had over 400 hours on it! The troubleshooter in me figured that if I flipped the arm upside down, I would swap the slot from left to right, and if the problem occurred on the let side, I'd have identified the bad part. Well, it only took a few minutes to flip, and the results? It works perfectly! My guess is that the slot does have a little asymmetric wear, but it is not only asymmetric left to right, but top to bottom. Flipping it gave a new surface to wear on. I guess if it goes another 400 hours before becoming a problem, I can say I got my money's worth out of the part.....
Just another thing for the archives!
Paul
I changed from a Van's tail wheel to an API Assembly probably six months after first flight - at maybe 150 hours total time. Works great, feels good - an excellent product. The only maintenance it requires is an occasional cleaning - very occasional as it turns out, maybe twice in a year and a half. I have always carefully inspected the little detent and plunger for burs that might cause it to hang up, and quite frankly, it has been trouble free with a little grease.
A few months back, however, I started to notice a funny problem. On a long straight taxi, I usually have just very slight pressure on the right peddle. After a hundred feet or so, I'd realize that the tail wheel had "broken free" - if I pushed right peddle, I got rudder, but no tail wheel steering. Returning the peddles to neutral reengaged it, and I could steer without trouble. It was only if I kept a very gentle pressure on that it "crept out" and went free. Pushing to the left was perfectly normal - locked up until enough deflection was reached, then broke out.
Of course, I took the thing apart, cleaned, inspected, grease, and re-assembled it a couple times. Same results. I looked at all parts wit a loup, and found no burs. I finally decided that maybe the slot in the control arm was worn - after all, it had over 400 hours on it! The troubleshooter in me figured that if I flipped the arm upside down, I would swap the slot from left to right, and if the problem occurred on the let side, I'd have identified the bad part. Well, it only took a few minutes to flip, and the results? It works perfectly! My guess is that the slot does have a little asymmetric wear, but it is not only asymmetric left to right, but top to bottom. Flipping it gave a new surface to wear on. I guess if it goes another 400 hours before becoming a problem, I can say I got my money's worth out of the part.....
Just another thing for the archives!
Paul
