Tony Nijhuis FW 190 tail wheel

[KenC]

Has anyone built this FW190 and converted it to steering  from free coaster ?     If so , how did you do it ?

[Chris Walby]

Would something like this do? 

 

The advantage is if the wheel gets caught the arm will rotate on the shaft or pull the screw out of the rudder fin rather than damage the rudder servo 

[KenC]

Hi Chris, yes I have something similar on my Wot 4 , problem is I want to try for a more scale look to this warbird and use the wheel designed for this model.

[Jon H]

13 hours ago, KenC said:

Has anyone built this FW190 and converted it to steering  from free coaster ?     If so , how did you do it ?

 

if the wheel is in the scale location free castering should not present any problems unless its blowing a gale. all of my warbirds have free castoring wheels

[KenC]

Thanks Jon , do you find any issue  controlling drift during takeoff when the airflow is too low for the rudder to make a difference.  Is manoeuvring during  taxi possible ?

[Dale Bradly]

If it's of any help, I built TN's Typhoon with the castoring tailwheel as per plan, and it's perfectly adequate on the ground, maneuverable enough for taxiing (with some propwash as required) and perfectly controllable during takeoff/landing. 

[KenC]

Thanks Dale , what made me wonder was the build and review of the TN FW 190 in RCME when they gave the plan away . Seems the author considered it might have been wise o have done when he built it. 

[Andy Gates]

Building my version of it with a steerable tailwheel as our grass field can be a nightmare with a castoring unit due to the lumps and bumps.

 

My winter build - just a bit behind😉.

 

I will post a photo a bit later.

I must add that my machine is going to be way lighter as I have dispensed with all the thick wood sections and as much ply / light ply as I can.

To me light ply is a bit of an oxy moron. If you need strength use normal ply, if you don't - use balsa.

[KenC]

Look forward to your photo Andy both of the wheel idea and in general .

[Andy Gates]

Hi Ken,

 

Tail wheel first, self turned aluminium mount with brass horn (brazed onto a wheel collet) fastened to a small ply plate fastened in the rear. It will be controlled by an exterior  pushrod from the rudder horn - rudder control being pull pull cables.

[Andy Gates]

General views.

 

Rear spine and rear under side all thin sheet over adjusted formers.

Tail feathers all ribbed & sheeted.

Current weight with most of the electrics in but without battery 4lb 6oz.

 

Going to cover with Lam Film which will not add too much weight.

 

Plenty more to do but busy with training others and club activities which eats into build time. Just had to rebuild the club trainer after an incident.

[KenC]

That's a lovely clean looking build Andy, and I note not the Nijhuis plastics !     Did you make that canopy with the plastic bottle method ?     I am trying to adapt mine to have the typical teardrop  rear end to the canopy, rather than the square finish supplied with the kit.  

[Andy Gates]

No the plastics came from Vortex. The cowl is not the correct shape - more Corsair shape but I will use it anyway. I had to add inserts between the 2 halves to make it fit but it will all  disappear once filled and sanded.

 

I also have not sheeted the wing underside, less weight and it does not need it for structural rigidity. No flaps either - not necessary when you build light. As a extra gain from building light, it has meant I can use smaller retract units which means they are lighter too. We will see how they go at our field.

 

If you want any other pictures just give a shout.

 

It would be nice to get it finished.

[Jon H]

22 hours ago, KenC said:

Thanks Jon , do you find any issue  controlling drift during takeoff when the airflow is too low for the rudder to make a difference.  Is manoeuvring during  taxi possible ?

 

No problems really. As Dale points out the key is to maintain airflow over the rudder. If you watch youtube videos of models taxiing their pilots tend to stab the throttle aggressively and then come back to idle. This looks bad and wont work as throttling back to idle means there is little to no rudder authority. Maintaining some power all the time and just creeping forward is the name of the game. Takes a little practice, but if the tailwheel is in the scale position it will be fine in all but the most nasty of cross winds. The scale position is important as many models have the tail wheel under the rudder and this is not always effective. If you look at any WWII fighter the tail wheel is forward of the rudder giving a long leverage arm for the rudder over the tail wheel. 

 

The P51 for example has its tail wheel 5 or 6 feet forward of the rudder. 

 

Anyway all of my warbirds have castoring tail wheels and only the la7 gives trouble as its bent and i need to fix it. It works ok, i can only do right turns thats all! Its really nice taxxing out with full right rudder and the model still slightly drifting to the left while the momentum carries it for a moment. Looks very realistic and once in position you can spin around on the spot in that customary WWII fashion.