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After 635 landings the right side tail wheel spring broke. Fourteen landings later the left side tail wheel spring broke. Both breaks were the in the same location and they were fresh failures. Note the broken metal surface shows no rust. Both failures were located where the spring hook goes over the top of the rudder lever arm.
To reduce the rust problem, I purchased stainless steel replacement springs from McMaster Carr, Part # 9433K47 - Stainless Steel Extension Spring 2-1/2" Length, 1/2" OD, .063" Wire Diameter. These springs were packaged by Gardner Spring - Part # 37073GS. I thought the first failure was a fluke, but with the second failure following so close to the first it caused me to wonder. I thought I may need to enlarge the hole through the rudder bar lever to prevent some binding, but further checking indicated this to not be the case. The first failure resulted in a ground loop but the second did not. The difference may be due to cross and straight into the wind taxiing. |