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[March 29, 2015]


My new JDAir Tailwheel control arm showed up today, just in the nick of time to install it and have predictable ground handling. It couldn't of arrived for a better day to be in the hangar or go flying. Not a cloud was in the sky and the temperature was in the 50's. I lifted the tailwheel up for ease of maintenance.


First was to replace the key and spring. I used a copious amount of grease.


The new (bottom) vs the old (top) control arm. The new one is 1/32" or so thinner than the previous one. The new one also looks like it is milled out of a solid block of aluminum, whereas the old one I think is cast aluminum. Hopefully this new one has a longer life than just a measly 280 hours.


Because the new control arm was skinnier, I needed to add another washer to the tailwheel fork because the nut was bottoming out on the threads. The fit of this control arm is much looser than the prior one because of its lack of thickness.


With the new tailwheel fork on, it was time to take to the air. Ground handling was back to normal with the new tailwheel control arm. I flew up over the top of the bay and down the eastern shore - one of my more favorite local flights.


The OAT was 25 degrees at altitude - and it seems my CHT's are lower than normal. Perhaps moving my oil cooler shutter ahead of my oil cooler caused this? I'm not complaining - 250 is fine in my book!

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Last Modified: August 13, 2023