We were playing on the gravel gars of the Fraser river last weekend and Bearhawk #357 (RoverHawk) had the right front wheel throw a rock at the tail wheel and knock it right off. The chance of that is really slim, catching it on video is beyond slim. link to the video is here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4xkI1wLtXA

When the Tailwheel was knocked off, did someone tell him to takeoff and not let the tail settle on the gravel?

He also did a fine job walking the plane around the paved airport to save the fork.

uh. We were just talking taxi with the tail up practice in a recent thread. here's another good example of why it's a good idea to practice it.

Great video, great job flying the plane, and great looking airplane!

CW

How the heck did a rock knock it off??

Coyote Ugly wrote:How the heck did a rock knock it off??

That rock is going to have a relative velocity of 40-60MPH and, by the size of it, weigh about 10 pounds. A little back of the envelope physics suggests this might be a thousand pounds of force hitting the tailwheel. Maybe more, maybe a little less depending on the angle the rock bounced off, it's hard to tell from the video. Anyway, a bunch of force pushing the "wrong" way on the assembly (i.e. under normal circumstances the force would be coming vertically instead of horizontally).

Looks like the rock is as big as the tailwheel!!, Damn did you and Patinloco talk to each other on the phone that morning??
Appears like it broke the casting where the axle penetrates?

What engine is in that bearhawk ?

The rock never really hit the tail wheel. It hit the extended axle that you hook your tail wheel puller to and broke the casting on both sides. At the end of the video you can see the bent axle on the tail wheel. He heard a bang and decided to do a flyover and get the guys to see if anything was wrong.
The motor is a Landrover 4.6L v8 with a belt drive.

Yes you lose your endorsement for a new one. its called the tail skid endorsement. Which requires more skill then the tailwheel.

sorry to hear about you breaking your plane.

That is unbelievable!

What a neat video . Glad it wasn't any worse although obviously it sucks to break anything. Fortunate that the rudder wasn't hit.

Good Job!! Had that happen to me once on my pa-15 Vagabond, only I was on rollout and the bolt broke. Sorta slid up to the hanger.

Gotta say, that tail wheel substitute lacks much in the aerodynamics department!

Cary

That is one cool video and some pretty cool flying too!

So I have to ask - what actually gave-way? Was it the axle bolt?

What actually broke was the part of the fork that the axle goes through. The fork has two half holes remaining. The axle did not break but it did bend, as you can see right at the end of the video.

Great video. Crazy to catch that. Great music btw, I really like Corb Lund. If you guys ever make it over the big rocks into Alberta make sure you let me know, and I'll let you guys know if I ever make it that a way. Be fun to do some flying together.

David