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tail spring

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dwight purdy

Joined: 10 Feb 2006
Posts: 85

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:25 am Post subject: tail spring

I have finally experienced the rudder stopping power of the dreaded broken 

tail spring.

   Is anyone selling them for the model II? Have a fly-in this weekend I 

hate to miss.



dwight 

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_________________
dwight
model II

kr2(at)earthlink.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:33 am Post subject: tail spring

testing my email,sorry no tail spring here



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kr2(at)earthlink.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:01 pm Post subject: tail spring

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dwight purdy

Joined: 10 Feb 2006
Posts: 85

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:20 pm Post subject: tail spring

Way to break my heart?



                       Dwight



At 03:59 PM 4/30/2006 -0400, you wrote:



[quote]



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_________________
dwight
model II

clemwehner(at)sbcglobal.n
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: tail spring

Dwight,



A friend of mine, John Perry, (who is on this list) had a new spring for

his model II made locally at a spring shop. Cost him about $75 to have

an exact duplicate made. Interestingly, the shop guy told him the

original spring as supplied by Denney Aerocraft was not spring steel but

cheap steel about like you'd find on a farm implement.  



You might try that approach if you can find a metal shop who works with

spring steel. 



Clem

Lawton, OK

KFIV-912





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dwight purdy

Joined: 10 Feb 2006
Posts: 85

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:41 pm Post subject: tail spring

Do not know if the one I broke was original or not. The break sure looked 

like something hard. I personally had over 500 hours on it. I am a 

machinist and could play around but do not want to take a chance of ruining 

the rudder.



                          Thanks Dwight

At 07:31 PM 4/30/2006 -0500, you wrote:



[quote]



Dwight,



A friend of mine, John Perry, (who is on this list) had a new spring for

his model II made locally at a spring shop. Cost him about $75 to have

an exact duplicate made. Interestingly, the shop guy told him the

original spring as supplied by Denney Aerocraft was not spring steel but

cheap steel about like you'd find on a farm implement.



You might try that approach if you can find a metal shop who works with

spring steel.



Clem

Lawton, OK

KFIV-912





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_________________
dwight
model II

Jim Shumaker

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 106

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:41 pm Post subject: tail spring

Dwight

   

  I had a tailspring break and bought a tailspring out of Aircraft Spruce.  Specifically, the 06-14500 for homebuilts.  I had to redrill one end, cut off some extra length and belt sand the width to fit my Maule tailwheel.  But it only required about an hour to modify and fit up.

   

  Jim Shumaker



clemwehner <clemwehner(at)sbcglobal.net> wrote:

  



Dwight,



A friend of mine, John Perry, (who is on this list) had a new spring for

his model II made locally at a spring shop. Cost him about $75 to have

an exact duplicate made. Interestingly, the shop guy told him the

original spring as supplied by Denney Aerocraft was not spring steel but

cheap steel about like you'd find on a farm implement. 



You might try that approach if you can find a metal shop who works with

spring steel. 



Clem

Lawton, OK

KFIV-912





--

_________________
Jim Shumaker

smokey_bear_40220(at)yaho
Guest

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:27 pm Post subject: tail spring

Bad steel?  That might explain some of the earlier

breaks.  SS might not have known.



Kurt S.



--- clemwehner <clemwehner(at)sbcglobal.net> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   Dwight,

 

 A friend of mine, John Perry, (who is on this list)

 had a new spring for

 his model II made locally at a spring shop. Cost him

 about $75 to have

 an exact duplicate made. Interestingly, the shop guy

 told him the

 original spring as supplied by Denney Aerocraft was

 not spring steel but

 cheap steel about like you'd find on a farm

 implement.  

 

 You might try that approach if you can find a metal

 shop who works with spring steel. 

 

 Clem

 Lawton, OK

 KFIV-912


	


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shoeless(at)barefootpilot
Guest

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 3:01 am Post subject: tail spring

Contact John McBean at http://www.sportplanellc.com/

I helped him with the dimensions for a steel tailwheel spring last year and 

I'm flying with the prototype, it's purrrfect. I know that he had made a 

small batch of them and might have some left.

Stay away from the aluminum springs! I broke two of them.

Cliff



--

Ben-PA

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 44
Location: Berwick, Pa

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 5:03 am Post subject: tail spring

That's interesting, Cliff. I went to a spring maker here to get a steel =

spring and he told me that aluminum is better than steel for springs and =

that the big trucks are using aluminum.

Ben

  ---

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janderson412(at)hotmail.c
Guest

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:50 am Post subject: tail spring

Cliff, did your springs break due to normal flexing or was it because a weak 

point was created from the spring rubbing on the steel mount/bolts? Heat 

treated aluminum alloy is being used very successfully in many arenas now 

days (spring main gear) but must be softly mounted to stop any chance 

abrasion. John A.



From:  "Clifford Begnaud" <shoeless(at)barefootpilot.com>

Reply-To:  kitfox-list(at)matronics.com

To:  <kitfox-list(at)matronics.com>

Subject:  Re: tail spring

Date:  Mon, 1 May 2006 04:57:26 -0600


<shoeless(at)barefootpilot.com>



Contact John McBean at http://www.sportplanellc.com/

I helped him with the dimensions for a steel tailwheel spring last year and

I'm flying with the prototype, it's purrrfect. I know that he had made a

small batch of them and might have some left.

Stay away from the aluminum springs! I broke two of them.

Cliff



--

shoeless(at)barefootpilot
Guest

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject: tail spring

I think that the problem with using aluminum for a tailwheel spring is the 

way it concentrates the bending force in a small area. I think that the 

aluminum there gets work hardened and brittle. In our main landing gear the 

bending forces are spread out so there is no hardening. I'm not the only 

person to break these aluminum tailwheel springs, beware!

Cliff



That's interesting, Cliff. I went to a spring maker here to get a steel =

spring and he told me that aluminum is better than steel for springs and =

that the big trucks are using aluminum.

Ben

shoeless(at)barefootpilot
Guest

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:25 pm Post subject: tail spring

John,

See my other post. The flexing occurs at the bend, this is where it breaks. 

Keep in mind that this happened on two model 5's that I've owned. The 

heavier kitfoxes put more load on the spring than do the earlier models. 

Also, the aluminum spring is very stiff, I never did like the damned thing. 

The 3 leaf steel spring that John McBean made for me is so much nicer. It's 

heavier, but I needed some weight back there anyway. Models 2,3 and 4 could 

probably work fine with only a 2 leaf steel spring.

Cliff

Cliff, did your springs break due to normal flexing or was it because a weak

point was created from the spring rubbing on the steel mount/bolts? Heat

treated aluminum alloy is being used very successfully in many arenas now

days (spring main gear) but must be softly mounted to stop any chance

abrasion. John A.



From:  "Clifford Begnaud" <shoeless(at)barefootpilot.com>

Reply-To:  kitfox-list(at)matronics.com

To:  <kitfox-list(at)matronics.com>

Subject:  Re: tail spring

Date:  Mon, 1 May 2006 04:57:26 -0600


<shoeless(at)barefootpilot.com>



Contact John McBean at http://www.sportplanellc.com/

I helped him with the dimensions for a steel tailwheel spring last year and

I'm flying with the prototype, it's purrrfect. I know that he had made a

small batch of them and might have some left.

Stay away from the aluminum springs! I broke two of them.

Cliff



--

ruebd(at)skymail.csus.edu
Guest

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 1:29 pm Post subject: tail spring

Dear fellow Kitfoxers:



	It strikes me as absurd to use aluminum for a multi leaf spring.

I suppose the motivation for doing this is weight savings, but the metal

cannot be a good choice due to it's natural characteristic to work

harden when flexed to that extent.  Those of us who are flying Foxes

with heavier power plants actually need some weight back there, so we

certainly wouldn't want to trade high modulus, spring steel for work

hardening aluminum, cause the result is tail dragging to an extent we

really do not want, not to mention the clutter that we would distribute

on the runway when it breaks.  

	Did Skystar actually supply aluminum springs with the kits, and

if so on what models?  



Duane Rueb



--

wliles(at)bayou.com
Guest

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:24 pm Post subject: tail spring

I think the aluminum springs were aftermarket.



The earlier steel springs also had a bit of a problem.  The bend in the 

spring was not gradual, but very sharp, a perfect stress riser and 

guaranteed to eventually break.



Jerry Liles



Rueb, Duane wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



Dear fellow Kitfoxers:



	It strikes me as absurd to use aluminum for a multi leaf spring.

I suppose the motivation for doing this is weight savings, but the metal

cannot be a good choice due to it's natural characteristic to work

harden when flexed to that extent.  Those of us who are flying Foxes

with heavier power plants actually need some weight back there, so we

certainly wouldn't want to trade high modulus, spring steel for work

hardening aluminum, cause the result is tail dragging to an extent we

really do not want, not to mention the clutter that we would distribute

on the runway when it breaks.  

	Did Skystar actually supply aluminum springs with the kits, and

if so on what models?  



Duane Rueb

Kevin Schlosser

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 8:07 am Post subject: Re: tail spring

I bought this same spring and easily modified as described below to fit - works great on my Model 3

 	  Jim Shumaker wrote: 	
		  Dwight

   

  I had a tailspring break and bought a tailspring out of Aircraft Spruce.  Specifically, the 06-14500 for homebuilts.  I had to redrill one end, cut off some extra length and belt sand the width to fit my Maule tailwheel.  But it only required about an hour to modify and fit up.

   

  Jim Shumaker



clemwehner <clemwehner(at)sbcglobal.net> wrote:

  



Dwight,



A friend of mine, John Perry, (who is on this list) had a new spring for

his model II made locally at a spring shop. Cost him about $75 to have

an exact duplicate made. Interestingly, the shop guy told him the

original spring as supplied by Denney Aerocraft was not spring steel but

cheap steel about like you'd find on a farm implement. 



You might try that approach if you can find a metal shop who works with

spring steel. 



Clem

Lawton, OK

KFIV-912





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