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Edge 540/2.6m
Tailwheel Assembly:
When fitting the tailwheel assembly, the choice of wire style, or
carbon leaf style, is completely up to your personal preference.
You will find there is plenty of area behind the stern post to
accommodate almost all types of commercially available tailwheel
assemblies. The flat bottom surface of the Composite Arf Edge
540 makes tailwheel assembly mounting very simple. During
construction we elected to use a Haig style titanium wire tailwheel
assembly from J&J Tailwheels.
Behind the stern post there is a pre installed ply mounting plate to
accommodate the fitment of the tailwheel assembly. First up, you
need to place a strip of masking tape along the bottom rear of the
fuselage, and then you need to locate the position of the stern
post! This is pretty simple using the following procedure. Measure
from the end of the fuselage to the surface of the stern post. Mark
the beginning of the stern post on the bottom of the fuselage. The
stern post is 10mm thick, mark this area clearly on the bottom of
the fuselage. The tailwheel mounting plate is approximately
100mm long, and is mounted directly in front of the stern post.
Measure 100mm from the rear of the stern post, this is the area
you have available to mount your chosen tailwheel assembly.
If you elect to use the J&J tailwheel, simply measure 70mm from
the stern post and drill a 6.2mm hole in the centre of the fuselage.
You should chamfer the rear edge of this hole sightly to
accommodate the bend in the wire. Place the plastic mounting
straps evenly along the wire and drill the appropriate size holes for
the mounting screws.
If you are using a traditional style tailwheel assembly which
requires springs to facilitate steering, consider mounting them to
the underside of the ball link retention bolt on the rudder control
horn. Simply use a long bolt and add some Dubro #557 horn
brackets to attach the springs. Alternatively if you use a direct
drive system which attaches directly to the rudder, you will need to
apply some epoxy and micro balloons to the mounting area, where
the spring retaining bolt is fitted.