I was at this fancy dinner last week, and you know, they had three – not two, three – forks on the left side of the plate, and yet ANOTHER one across the top…boy, was I confused….
No, that’s not the kind of fork I’m talking about; I’m talking tail wheel forks. I’m making another change on the Valkyrie, after flying happily with my API fork for most of the airplane’s life. The fact is, I am still happy with it, except for one thing – the compatibility with the rest of our “fleet”.
First, a little background. About the time I first flew the Val, the Bell tail wheel fork made it’s appearance. For all the reasons that it appeared, I was unhappy with the Van’s fork – predominantly, the ground clearance in front of the tail wheel. I heard stories of getting that low-slung fork caught on a concrete lip and ripping the bulkheads out of the fuse – not a pretty thought! The bell gave so much clearance that it is guaranteed that the tire will always hit an obstacle first. The only problem was, they were hard to get. Well, the API fork was easily obtained, and it would bolt right on where the Bell came off – you just had to drill it to match the spring. Installing it was easy, and I have been very happy with it’s performance, but in the RV world, it has two limitations, both of which are maintenance related – the diameter of the axle is different than van’s standard, and the diameter of the shaft is different as well – meaning that you have to use a different steering arm. Neither f these incompatibilities is a big deal, so long as you are buying spares from API…but when you have three RV’s in the hangar, and they have different spare requirements, it can be a bit of a pain if you want to share parts!
Louise’s -6 has a real, authentic Bell fork – it fits right in to the Van’s “knuckle” and uses standard Van’s spares for bearings, wheels, axles, and arms. For the -3 that we are building, I had the opportunity to pick up a bell “clone” from Aviation Tech Products – a very nice unit that is available from Alex deDominicus, of RV transition training fame. The ATP fork has all the same features of the Bell, especially the compatibility with the rest of the RV world. Getting one for the -3 meant that the -8 (Valkyrie) was odd-ship-out for our hangar. With the routine wear that we see on control arms, and the fact that I wanted to try out the new control arms from JDAir.Com, we were once again faced with the issue of not having the same spares around – so I figured it was time to bite the bullet, convert the Val back to a standard knuckle (still have it!), and get us all back to a single configuration. The price on the ATP fork was reasonable, and Alex had them in stock, so one was on its way quickly. I am still a huge supporter of the Bell’s, but I know that their production rate is slow, and the waiting list long – if you want something very similar, and you want it now….Alex is one good source.
Installation really only took a few minutes, and the API will probably go on sale to someone who wants the better ground clearance, but doesn’t have the same “fleet” commonality issues that we face. I had to dig out the old knuckle and give it a quick “clean and paint” once-over. The new control arms from JDAir arrived in just a couple of days (nice web site for ordering), and both Louise and I were very happy with the design, fit, and finish. It will be interesting to see if they have longer wear lives that the Van’s or Silver Bullet (no longer available) arms – only time will tell. But if they work as well as they look, I am optimistic. Now maybe I need to give a think to one of those lightweight tail wheels that DJM is selling – might be just the thing for that lightweight RV-3…..
Van’s Knuckle and Tailwheel, AviationTech Fork, JDair arm and Silver Silver Bullet Link (no longer available – buy the JDair now…)
Paul
No, that’s not the kind of fork I’m talking about; I’m talking tail wheel forks. I’m making another change on the Valkyrie, after flying happily with my API fork for most of the airplane’s life. The fact is, I am still happy with it, except for one thing – the compatibility with the rest of our “fleet”.
First, a little background. About the time I first flew the Val, the Bell tail wheel fork made it’s appearance. For all the reasons that it appeared, I was unhappy with the Van’s fork – predominantly, the ground clearance in front of the tail wheel. I heard stories of getting that low-slung fork caught on a concrete lip and ripping the bulkheads out of the fuse – not a pretty thought! The bell gave so much clearance that it is guaranteed that the tire will always hit an obstacle first. The only problem was, they were hard to get. Well, the API fork was easily obtained, and it would bolt right on where the Bell came off – you just had to drill it to match the spring. Installing it was easy, and I have been very happy with it’s performance, but in the RV world, it has two limitations, both of which are maintenance related – the diameter of the axle is different than van’s standard, and the diameter of the shaft is different as well – meaning that you have to use a different steering arm. Neither f these incompatibilities is a big deal, so long as you are buying spares from API…but when you have three RV’s in the hangar, and they have different spare requirements, it can be a bit of a pain if you want to share parts!
Louise’s -6 has a real, authentic Bell fork – it fits right in to the Van’s “knuckle” and uses standard Van’s spares for bearings, wheels, axles, and arms. For the -3 that we are building, I had the opportunity to pick up a bell “clone” from Aviation Tech Products – a very nice unit that is available from Alex deDominicus, of RV transition training fame. The ATP fork has all the same features of the Bell, especially the compatibility with the rest of the RV world. Getting one for the -3 meant that the -8 (Valkyrie) was odd-ship-out for our hangar. With the routine wear that we see on control arms, and the fact that I wanted to try out the new control arms from JDAir.Com, we were once again faced with the issue of not having the same spares around – so I figured it was time to bite the bullet, convert the Val back to a standard knuckle (still have it!), and get us all back to a single configuration. The price on the ATP fork was reasonable, and Alex had them in stock, so one was on its way quickly. I am still a huge supporter of the Bell’s, but I know that their production rate is slow, and the waiting list long – if you want something very similar, and you want it now….Alex is one good source.
Installation really only took a few minutes, and the API will probably go on sale to someone who wants the better ground clearance, but doesn’t have the same “fleet” commonality issues that we face. I had to dig out the old knuckle and give it a quick “clean and paint” once-over. The new control arms from JDAir arrived in just a couple of days (nice web site for ordering), and both Louise and I were very happy with the design, fit, and finish. It will be interesting to see if they have longer wear lives that the Van’s or Silver Bullet (no longer available) arms – only time will tell. But if they work as well as they look, I am optimistic. Now maybe I need to give a think to one of those lightweight tail wheels that DJM is selling – might be just the thing for that lightweight RV-3…..
Van’s Knuckle and Tailwheel, AviationTech Fork, JDair arm and Silver Silver Bullet Link (no longer available – buy the JDair now…)
Paul
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