Tailwheel Parts

All the parts for the tailwheel are cleaned, inspected and painted. The tailwheel spring mounting bracket at the tail of the fuselage is cleaned up and painted. Once I have the rest of the new parts needed, all this can go back together. The tailwheel steering arm and cam assembly is one of the parts for which there seems to be no information on repairing it. The Scott factory riveted it together, so no internal parts are available. Once you un-rivet it, it's a very simple design. I'll write a short explanation before putting all this back together.


 There are 2 bushings which act as stops for the arms and prevent the covers from being crushed when the assembly is riveted together.  I could have drilled out the rivets, but it seemed easier to make new bushings.  The bushings are 3/8" long, 1/4" outside and 3/16" inside diameter.  I have some 1/4" x .028" wall 4130 tubing for the Waco project so I clamped a piece of it between some wood blocks and carefully drilled the ID to 3/16".  To cut off a short piece I used the end of the 3/16" drill to hold the end being cut off.




To square the ends of the bushing I ground one end before each cut was made by holding it against the miter gauge and spinning it while gently pushing it against the belt.  After cutting the bushings slip each one on the drill bit to hold the drill level. Use a gentle finger pressure to push the cut end against the belt while spinning it on the drill shank.  Spinning evens out any slight alignment error and a light pressure allows you to take off less than .oo1" in a cut.  With a little care the 2 bushings can be made within .0005" of the 3/8".

A light deburing after grinding and the bushings are ready to rivet in.