Flying home from Tripletree yesterday I made a last minute decision to make a quick fuel stop. Landed at a airport with a 100' wide runway. Wind was 10 gusting to 15 about 50 degrees off runway heading. Decided to wheel land the six and rolled it on very nicely. Held the tail up until it slowly dropped down on its own while patting myself on the back for my suburb airmanship! That's the point where the fun started! I was not expecting or mentally ready for the aircraft to take off for the weeds. By the time I got my feet in the proper position and stabbed the brake to save the day the aircraft was moving to the edge fast. Took another stab of brake on the opposite side to sort it out. Not a fun ride.
The point of this is to remind everyone to expect the unexpected. It turned out my rocket link broke. The bolt coming out of the ball that ties into the control arm had snapped. I think had I been more alert my ride after tailwheel touchdown would have been less interesting. I had grown complacent with the easy ground handling of the aircraft. In 300 hours in the aircraft only one other time did I need brake for directional control on rollout and that was after dragging the right main through a puddle of water on a grass strip. This story could have had a different outcome if I had continued home to a 30' wide strip. Stay alert!!
The point of this is to remind everyone to expect the unexpected. It turned out my rocket link broke. The bolt coming out of the ball that ties into the control arm had snapped. I think had I been more alert my ride after tailwheel touchdown would have been less interesting. I had grown complacent with the easy ground handling of the aircraft. In 300 hours in the aircraft only one other time did I need brake for directional control on rollout and that was after dragging the right main through a puddle of water on a grass strip. This story could have had a different outcome if I had continued home to a 30' wide strip. Stay alert!!