Maule or Matco tailwheel

[Av8r3400]

Can you elaborate?

Okay. Here goes...

My first Kitfox had a Maul. As long as I took off the unlocking cam it was fine. As soon as the cam went on, to unlock the wheel to maneuver, or to push the plane into the hangar, it became a nightmare. I played around with it for a couple years trying to make it reliably work. I had it apart so many times to clean, lube, measure for wear, adjust chains, etc. Maybe if the setup of the airframe to wheel was PERFECT it would work better, but perfection was not attainable by me on that plane. The rudder stops were not exactly symmetrical and this caused it to unlock in one direction quicker than the other. This situation, coupled with a slightly sagged spring caused a couple of ground loop situations with that plane. Luckily very slow with no damage. I re-arched the spring to give the wheel a positive camber and that helped some, but the wheel was still twitchy with the unlock.

The Mangy Fox was built with a 8" Matco wheel in mind from the start. The pneumatic tire is far better than the solid rubber for ride and steering. The steering/locking mechanism is far less temperamental. I also set up this plane with adjustable rudder stops to make sure I could tune the tailwheel perfectly. I later added a Grove tail spring and that made this setup perform even better.

[109JB]

Thanks for the explanations. Sounds like the Maule could be a little tricky to adjust. I really haven't taken the Maule apart to see how it works so may do that soon, but I can see how the Matco works and it is pretty simple in its operation. I'll probably go with the Matco once I get to that point.. One slight difficulty I've had with my Matco is it not wanting to unlock for ground handling but I ordered the arms that unlock at lower angle deflection and just have to get them on to try out. Thanks for the responses.

[109JB]

Thanks for the offer and it is a very good deal. I'm sure someone will take you up on it. If I buy I'll wind up buying an 8"

[HighWing]

I have used the Homebuilders single arm 6" tailwheel for many years. I have had no negative experiences with it.

[jrevens]

I like those tailwheels too, Lowell. I used the double fork version on my T-18, but I modified it by milling out the track that the locking key rides in, giving a greater angle of turn before it goes to full-swivel. They are made by Aviation Products in Ojai, CA, and you used to be able to purchase directly from them... not sure if that's still the case. I wanted an 8" wheel for the Kitfox, so went with the light weight double arm Matco. It's worked very well for me.