# Shawn's plane projects



## ShawnR (Today at 6:55 AM)

In previous posts, I have found there is some interest in aircraft. As I venture into the rebuilding of mine, I thought I might post questions, comments or updates here. I don't know if there will be much machining oriented aspects, but one of the first projects is.
The plane is a "taildragger", small wheel on the back instead of the front. Originally, the tailwheel only pivots side to side a bit. It is connected to the rudder via cables and springs so that when taxiing, directional control is via the rudder pedals and differential braking. But if you need to push the plane backwards, ie, put it into the hangar, or do a 180 degree turn on the spot, the limited rotation of the rear wheel hinders that. A common upgrade is to replace the tailwheel mechanism with a fully rotational one.
It is a kit available from 3rd parties. It requires cutting off of the bar (tail spring) and installing a new tail wheel bracket.

Soooo, the question is...after cutting the spring, I need to put it in the lathe and turn it to fit the new bracket. But it is tapered. The only way I can think of keeping it firm in the chuck is to play around with shims. Or use the spider at the left end of the spindle, if the spring is long enough. Is one of these the way? I included a photo of my tailwheel and the instructions with the kit.


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## boilerhouse (Today at 8:12 AM)

Sorry, no help with your questions, but, any photos and specs on the plane itself.  It looks like an interesting project.


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## phaxtris (Today at 8:19 AM)

Is this an F1 rocket?

You could machine 3 or 4 shims depending on the chuck you want to use with an opposing taper so that the jaws of your chuck see a nice flat surface and get a nice clamp

Might need some kind of collar to prevent the machining forces from pushing the taper out of the shims

Or carefully drill centers and turn btwn centers

Those are my thoughts


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## Darren (Today at 8:53 AM)

machine your own tapered or even stepped collet , or tapered sleeve with a draw bolt arrangement?


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## Janger (Today at 10:31 AM)

One way is with soft jaws for the chuck often made of aluminum. You machine the jaws to fit the taper.


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## PeterT (Today at 11:03 AM)

I'm not a full size plane nut, but there seem to be many examples of some kind of captive 'shoe' assembly that the tailwheel assembly fits into for this kind of moving around purpose. Most have a pivoting dolly/skate type rotation axis to make it maneuverable. Could you come up with a simpler/lighter duty version similar to these to save cutting into your gear? Not sure if the gear tubing alloy or shape is special in terms of providing the right amount of spring & control, but another consideration.


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## ShawnR (Today at 11:46 AM)

boilerhouse said:


> Sorry, no help with your questions, but, any photos and specs on the plane itself.  It looks like an interesting project.











						Hangar door suggestions
					

Hi all It has been a busy summer and not much metal related going on so I have not been around much. But a project has come up (still only fringing on metal related) that I was hoping to find input for. With the myriad amount of diversified talent on this forum, I think I have a good chance of...




					canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
				




There is some info in this thread. The plane is a Van's RV4 homebuilt. It first flew in 1985 and has about 550 hours on it. But it, like many of the machines we talk of on this forum, needs some TLC and upgrades. Not my first plane buy my first homebuilt. Therefore, I can work on it, legally.


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## ShawnR (Today at 11:49 AM)

phaxtris said:


> Is this an F1 rocket?
> 
> You could machine 3 or 4 shims depending on the chuck you want to use with an opposing taper so that the jaws of your chuck see a nice flat surface and get a nice clamp
> 
> ...



Close, I think the F1 starts as an RV4, and then is severely modified.  There is the Harmon Rocket as well, which might start as a Vans kit. An old neighbour of mine was building one when I was first getting into flying.

Thanks for the input.


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## ShawnR (Today at 11:53 AM)

PeterT said:


> I'm not a full size plane nut, but there seem to be many examples of some kind of captive 'shoe' assembly that the tailwheel assembly fits into for this kind of moving around purpose. Most have a pivoting dolly/skate type rotation axis to make it maneuverable. Could you come up with a simpler/lighter duty version similar to these to save cutting into your gear? Not sure if the gear tubing alloy or shape is special in terms of providing the right amount of spring & control, but another consideration.



I might be looking at something like this for in and out of the hangar if I want to use a lawn tractor as a tug. But the mod I am doing is mostly an upgrade for maneuvering the plane while taxiing it. So while in the plane. 

Thanks everyone for the input. Looks like this project first requires another little project. I will report back as to what I end up doing. I know one guy just took a grinder to it till it fit as it is not too critical,  but what fun is that?


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## phaxtris (Today at 12:22 PM)

thats a super cool plane for sure, what does it have for an engine ?


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## ShawnR (Today at 1:32 PM)

phaxtris said:


> thats a super cool plane for sure, what does it have for an engine ?


Lycoming O-360, (180 hp) currently in Winnipeg for a rebuild


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