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Tailwheel Stinger Movement

The original Bearhawk A model had a leaf type tailwheel spring. The B model changed to a stinger.


Early on during test flying I noticed torsional movement where the tailwheel attached to the stinger. During taxying, the entire tailwheel assembly would tend to incline to one side, then incline to the opposite side when turning the other direction. When the aft fuselage was raised off the ground the tailwheel assemble could be rotated several degrees in each direction by hand, around the stinger. It appeared that movement was occurring about the 2 AN4 bolts that secured the tailwheel to the stinger.


I contacted Mark Goldberg and Bob Barrows about the issue. Bob's suggested fix was to remove the tailwheel and apply Loctite Red around the end of the stinger, then re-install the tailwheel and the bolts. At the time I was doubtful if the Loctite Rd would be sufficient to prevent further movement. However, now some 350 hours later it is still solid with no discernible movement.





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