I apologize if this post again shows my own personal ignorance....
We started looking at the tailwheel of our '53 skywagon this afternoon.
The included photo is an attempt to show the skew between the tailwheel and the horizontal stabilzer.

Is this normal?
If not, does anyone have any ideas on a repair?

Thanks,

MCH

Does it track straight?

Does it shimmy?

If it tracks and doesn't shimmy, be happy, and don't worry about it. Could be a lot of things, but if it's working, the worst case scenario is you'll get uneven wear on the tire. So, swap the tire front to back every once in a while.

Be happy.

MTV

Prop the tail up on a brace and remove the tailwheel from the spring / stinger. There is a good chance the two horizontal bolt holes are a bit oval shaped. Another consideration is that when the tail is propped up like this, you can grab the spring / stinger and move it a bit side to side. The saddle may have some wear and the rubber bushings holding the saddle and / or at the front of the spring may need to be replaced.
All of this is normal wear and tear, and as Mike says, be happy! However, do plan ahead and start saving as things like the tail spring are expensive. And yes, the wear can ultimately lead to parts failure (who knows when), so good for you for being aware. Timing of maintenance will depend on your and your mechanic's views on such things...

Can't recall why we found it, but my wagon's stinger had a little side to side play. Fortunately tightening the bolts removed 95% of the play. Now I've added checking it to every annual, and like Matt said you've got to get the weight off the stinger to check it.

Ouch... I'm sure it's not what you want to hear, but I would be really careful. I dont think its just a loose bolt. It's probably been flying like that for years now, but the force that tweaked that inevitably tweaked more. Looks like a ground loop in the past. Do you know about the past damage Hx?

If your lucky, its just the stinger, but I would really inspect that last station. Might be a good time to pull that elevator off and give it a good inspection. When your in there, you can add the beef-up kit from Kenmore, rebuild the jack screws, and replace that stinger.

FWIW, ABW was working on (and are prob finished w/) a new HD stinger upgrade. This would allow you to go with the beefier stinger than what on the 53'. Would be a good time then to add an ABW fork as well.

If you want me to spend any more of your $$$, just let me know.

bigrenna wrote:FWIW, ABW was working on (and are prob finished w/) a new HD stinger upgrade.

I've held it in my grubby hands and It's going to be really great. According to Airframes Alaska, it's "weeks away" from being ready to sell. Of course, I remember hearing two years ago that it was months away. These things take time. It does look good, though.

It's always worth it to take your time and, uh, do it right...

Just so happens we are doing the annual on my 185 this week, and we found the stinger attach bolts a little loose, again. Glad we are checking them now as part of the annual.

Thanks for the replys.
I should add that we spent the last 18 months rebuilding this plane. It has been completely apart. The old wings were thrown away. A set of '62 C-185 wings were added. It has been stripped, painted and re-assembled with new hardware. It flies straight and level.

To answer mtv's questions:
It tracks straight. It is a little slow going to the right. No shimmy.
To answer Big Reanna's questions:
Yes it has damage history. Some repairs were OK, some were not, but it has all been fixed correctly on this go around.

We noticed this latest anomaly when we were doing some taxi tests after rebuilding the tailwheel and replacing the stinger bracket bushings.
(For those of you that haven't done that last one yet, let me just warn you that it is a little disconcerting to be hitting the side of your airplane with a mallet as part of your maintenance regiment! That is the only way to drive out the stinger bracket tube that has not been removed for 60 years.)

Any other input is appreciated.

MCH wrote:Thanks for the replys.
I should add that we spent the last 18 months rebuilding this plane. It has been completely apart. The old wings were thrown away. A set of '62 C-185 wings were added. It has been stripped, painted and re-assembled with new hardware. It flies straight and level.

To answer mtv's questions:
It tracks straight. It is a little slow going to the right. No shimmy.
To answer Big Reanna's questions:
Yes it has damage history. Some repairs were OK, some were not, but it has all been fixed correctly on this go around.

We noticed this latest anomaly when we were doing some taxi tests after rebuilding the tailwheel and replacing the stinger bracket bushings.
(For those of you that haven't done that last one yet, let me just warn you that it is a little disconcerting to be hitting the side of your airplane with a mallet as part of your maintenance regiment! That is the only way to drive out the stinger bracket tube that has not been removed for 60 years.)

Any other input is appreciated.

Sounds like you've answered your own question.

I'd fly it. And, FYI, the tailwheel on my PA 11 looks almost exactly like yours....works fine. I've flown worse in the "Real world".....


MTV