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I first flew the Quintus in Cumberland MD in mid July, the maiden flight was close to an hour and the second flight was over two hours. To say it's an efficient sailplane would be an understatement.
The scale features on the sailplane are outstanding however, the tail wheel used for this ship is not very strong since it uses a thin plastic spoke "Bling" type wheel.
I suppose if you were landing on smooth runways or pavement all the time it may last, but for the rough fields we fly from its didn't last the weekend. Furthermore its a steerable tail wheel to boot.
The repair was pretty simple and should provide a solution to anyone encountering this problem with these type wheels.
Here is the wheel as it comes back to the shop, simply pull out the axle to release the wheel
Supposed to look sorta like this.
Once out, I saved the center bushing to reuse along with the axle.
My buddy Bob M had some carbon sheet he donated to the cause. Here I cut out the remaining spokes on the wheel
Using a whole saw with the pilot bit removed I made these three over sized discs. Once made I drilled the approximate center with a bit just smaller than the center bushing.
Stack the two smaller ones on a 4-40 bolt for truing up
Use the drill press to spin while I shape the size
Finished smaller discs are glued to each side of the large disc, this is to add some support for the center bushing
Now start sizing the center disc to fit the wheel. A large wood block is needed to support the sandpaper or you'll get a wobble while shaping it.
The scale features on the sailplane are outstanding however, the tail wheel used for this ship is not very strong since it uses a thin plastic spoke "Bling" type wheel.
I suppose if you were landing on smooth runways or pavement all the time it may last, but for the rough fields we fly from its didn't last the weekend. Furthermore its a steerable tail wheel to boot.
The repair was pretty simple and should provide a solution to anyone encountering this problem with these type wheels.
Here is the wheel as it comes back to the shop, simply pull out the axle to release the wheel
Supposed to look sorta like this.
Once out, I saved the center bushing to reuse along with the axle.
My buddy Bob M had some carbon sheet he donated to the cause. Here I cut out the remaining spokes on the wheel
Using a whole saw with the pilot bit removed I made these three over sized discs. Once made I drilled the approximate center with a bit just smaller than the center bushing.
Stack the two smaller ones on a 4-40 bolt for truing up
Use the drill press to spin while I shape the size
Finished smaller discs are glued to each side of the large disc, this is to add some support for the center bushing
Now start sizing the center disc to fit the wheel. A large wood block is needed to support the sandpaper or you'll get a wobble while shaping it.
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