Thanks for starting this thread Steve. It prompted me to take a closer look at my tailwheel, with a steering arm on the left side.
I discovered that full left rudder causes the tailwheel to unlock just before the rudder hits the stop. Right rudder is OK. I played around with the available adjustment in the length of the steering arm, but on my aircraft it is not possible to adjust it so it works like it should.
I see two possible ways to sort this out, while keeping the steering arm:
- Fabricate or purchase a new arm for that mounts on the tailwheel pivot. The new arm must be swept back, so a line between the tailwheel pivot and the end of the arm is parallel to a line between the rudder hinge and the front mounting hole for the steering arm.
- Purchase a longer rod end for the steering arm, and drill a new hole for the front end. The new hole would be further forward, making the angle between the new hole and the rudder hinge closer to parallel to a line between the tailwheel pivot and end of the aft arm.
Can anyone point to a tailwheel steering arm vendor who sells a pivot arm that is swept aft far enough so the angle between the tailwheel pivot and arm end is parallel to a line from the rudder hinge and the hole where the front end of the arm mounts on the rudder horn?
Alternatively, I could go back to two springs with chains or cables. I had moved away from the usual chains and springs as they were hitting the bottom of the rudder fairing.