Steerable storch tail gear

by themistocles3 | September 7, 2015 | (10) Posted in How To

Steerable tail gear recipe


So, after destroying the dragger assembly on the first taxi in testing, I went to the mancave to build up a solution. The first iteration was a learning experience. The DTFB wheel wobbled and the left over light wire from the build was too weak to support the wheel with even just the weight of the plane. This assembly moved the CG rearward about 1/4" or so. Easily corrected with the battery placement.

Here is my answer:

  • Du-Bro 100MW 1" foam wheel

  • .047 music wire

  • Leftover paint stick section from kit build
  • hobby saw or small japanese pull saw for cutting paint stick.
  • hobby knife for shaping paint stick mount
  • sand paper for finishing shaping
  • Wire cutters and pliers
  • Drill

First, cut a 5/8" wide by about  4 1/2"  piece of paint stick out with the saw.

Second,  I cut that piece into 3 smaller pieces, a 1 1/4 bottom, a 1 5/8" middle and, a 1 1/2" top.

Third, whittled down the leading edge of all three sections and rounded slightly to give a bit of a start to the shape. Always cut away from yourself.

Fourth, I glued the the pieces together. Glued the middle piece to the top with 1/2" of overhang to aft.

Fifth, glued the bottom piece to the middle piece, squareing up the aft edges.

Sixth, cut a piece of the wire off to use as a drill bit and layed it against the top piece and drilled down through the lower two. In hind sight I would have drilled it off center to line up better with the hinge line of the vert stab.

Seventh, shape the leading edge of the paint stick mount carefully with the hobby knife and sand paper. Always cut away from yourself.

Eighth, bent the wire 90 deg 3" from one end. This is where the wood takes the load off the wire from the wheel. This prevents the stab from taking much shock or abuse.

Ninth, 1/4" from that 90 I bent about a 45deg down then at about 1/4",  30deg perpendicular to the previous bend. This allowed clearance for the wheel whidth. Then 3/8" later another 30deg to get back to parallel with the side of the wheel. Another 1/2" and I gave it a final 90deg to form the axle. I fit a wheel and cut off any extra length and made a glue wheel collar.

Tenth, inserted the wire up through the drilled hole in the mount and carefully bent the wire over in line with the wheel, locking it in to the mount. Then 2 1/2" from the last 90 I bent the wire up at a 90 to be inserted into rudder. I cut the wire about an inch from the last 90.

Eleventh, I dry fit the mount and pushed the wire into the rudder till flush. then glued the mount to the tail, lining up the hinge line of the rudder with the wire as it passed throught the mount.

I hope this gives you a starting point to improving your ground handling.  Thank you FT!

COMMENTS

Sea_Kerman on September 10, 2015
I did pretty much the same thing, except I used the zip ties it comes with instead of the wood.

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themistocles3 on September 10, 2015
So that would be a much lighter option. Holes through the rudder and wire zip tied through the holes?
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Talsharf on September 10, 2015
Great idea! I liked it very much

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Grateful Ted on October 6, 2015
Hey thanks! I added something similar to my FT Mustang. My angle is a little off on the axle but at least it will stop the tail from dragging. I need to buy a table vice to make it easier to do precision wire bends.
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Issam on November 24, 2015
Thanks for sharing, that really help me. I'll go right now to m'y storch
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Desert Wings on September 9, 2015
Great idea, and money saver. I really like your idea and results.
I have used the more expensive similar store bought solutions with one difference. On the last 90° bend used to insert the steering wire into the rudder I instead glue a small tube (straw, coffee stirrer, plastic sucker straw, small carbon fiber tube , aluminum tube, etc.) along the bottom of the rudder (1"-2"). Then, without the 90° bend, I insert the steering portion of the wire into the tube. This allows just a little play (front to back) and helps if the center line of the steering wheel does not match the rudder hinge line perfectly. If the plastic tube is a good fit it won't allow any side to side play. It also spreads the stress of the steering force along this short tube area on the rudder.
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themistocles3 on September 10, 2015
Thanks! I was unable to find a ready made solution in our only hobby store so necessity went maternal. I toyed with the idea of a flexible rudder mount system too. I like yours. Maybe a brake away version with the tube split in half or sliced open. That would limit horizontal shock on the rudder to a minimum. It would mean a loss of direct steering control in that event. However, that would still be an improvement over a simple drag stick.
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hifinsword on September 27, 2015
Good adaptation. It gives me an idea to finish the tail wheel on my FunFly. I think I will put a metal washer below the wood mount and a metal collar on the wire below the washer. That should eliminate the wire rubbing the wood in turns and just have a straight 45 degree angle to the wheel without the 90 degree bend first to support the weight of the tail.
IOT keep the top of the wire from moving forward due to the leverage from the tail wheel coming up, I've used plastic (clamshell leftovers or gift cards) inserted vertically (from the bottom) of the rudder to keep tailwheel wires from coming loose. I use zipties to really hold them in place. Hotglue doesn't last. I did not bend the wire horizontally to go into the tail until the wire is about 1 inch above the bottom of the tail. Once the plastic is inserted as a rudder reinforcement, drill a hole for the ziptie and wrap it around the wire at the front of the rudder.
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Bayboos on September 9, 2015
Wonderful idea, thanks for sharing!
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yehudah on September 10, 2015
This is great thanks, I was looking for something like this for weeks, My Storchs ground handling is always a handful, with the plane going all over the place before take off, this is really going to help, but first i have to make some repairs as I folded my wings in a loop today, word of advise the storks wings will fold if you try to push the plane to hard.
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mmiller1 on September 11, 2015
I can attest to the Storch and folding wings! Tried a loop....or was it an oppose?
Came down like a maple seedling! When I was adding the paint sticks at the center
line I realized later that it was no dihedral brace I had ever seen before. I will re-build
the Storch but this time with a different wing joiner. Should make a big difference.

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Steerable storch tail gear