Tundra Lite Tailwheel by Jim Pekola

[stede52]

Just wanted to let you guys know that there is a GREAT new tundra tailwheel assy on the market. Jim Pekola has designed and manufacturing a beautiful 11" dia. 4" wide (tubeless) tailwheel assembly. The assembly is made of chrome molly steel, has no return springs and weighs in at ONLY 6lbs 13oz. I've had one on my plane for about two weeks and it works beautifully. Turns are smooth with no break away pin and you can set it up as loose or tight as you like with a tension nut. I was really skeptical at first but after taxing around and flying it I'm convinced it's a great design. I replaced my Iron Design which was only a 8" x 2" wheel and saved 1.5lbs to boot!!! Jim is selling the assembly for $650 plus shipping/handling. If you are interested contact Jim at jimpekola@hotmail.com. I would definitely recomend it and feel its the best tundra tailwheel assy available for the Highlander and I have not felt it shimmy yet.
For some reason the hyperlink for Jim's email isn't working in the forum, so you will need to physically type it into address line of your email to him.

[stede52]

More tundra tailwheel pics.

[John Harrison]

Very Nice looking Clean set up..!

[stede52]

Just FYI, if you don't recognize Jim Pekola's name from previous posts, I'll give you a little history on this guy. He designed and built the first fully automatic leading-edge slats for his highly modified Highlander Extreme with full span flaperons which has been flying since early 2010. Nobody really know this either but he actually designed and built the first three leg extreme gear for his Highlander which Just AC later modified slightly and made it a factory option. He was also the guy who designed the flap gap seals (talked about in earlier posts) which Steve Henry, along with alot of us incorporated into our planes and is now factory option. He has also built approximatlely 10-14 Highlander, Kitfox, RidgeRunner airplane winning many 'Best of Shows' and is the best builder I know. Here is his Highlander Extreme with his new tail wheel.

[R Rinker]

So on a new build this could eliminate the spring cables?? How would that affect ground control at the extreme end of the envelope in cross winds, etc.?? ...Rodger

[stede52]

Rodger,
Here are some of Jim's thoughts on his tail wheel design, see the attached document. I've flown his tailwheel in some light cross wind (5-10mph) and felt no control difficulty, perfectly controlable and smooth and I contribute that to the tension created by the friction nut, which, can be adjusted to your specific liking. Its been my experience that the springs don't actually help much in servere crosswinds because in those conditons the springs don't have enough tension to affectively pull you out of trouble, if you are not ahead of it with your rudder the springs definitely will not bail you out

[stede52]

I also forgot to mention that his tailwheel has three stacked 5/8 in. bearings which can be greased, no bushings

[stede52]

Well I just noticed that I typed $750 in my first post, that was a typo, it should have been $650, darn fat fingers are always hitting the wrong keys:roll:

[xpflyr]

Well I just noticed that I typed $750 in my first post, that was a typo, it should have been $650, darn fat fingers are always hitting the wrong keys:roll:

I never flew a tailwheel before but noticed there is no lock on that tailwheel when you land and no rudder assisted steering. Does this make a big difference to a beginner?

[stede52]

I never flew a tailwheel before but noticed there is no lock on that tailwheel when you land and no rudder assisted steering. Does this make a big difference to a beginner?

When landing or taking off the tail will track based on your rudder input, not based on the springs. The only reason I see for the springs is to return the wheel to a center tracking position when not in contact with the ground, otherwise, it would swivel back and forth within the range of the lockout pin. With Jim's tailwheel I have the same feel and control as if I had springs except it's much smoother while ground handling. My tailwheel is set up so that the rudder and brake inputs feel the same as my previous tailwheel, however, if you were to lift the tailwheel off the ground and feel the side to side tension it feels fairly tight which keeps it from castering in air and helps illiminates shimmy when landing or taking off.
No, I don't think it would make a difference for a beginner now that I've been flying with one. The smooth tension will help reduce the tendency for beginner to whip the tail back and forth like what happens with springed tailwheels until you learn the 'Tailwheel Dance' . I'm speaking for myself because I had a helleva time when I was first learning to taxi in my Highlander, I can see where Jims tailwheel would have made it much less frustrating

[R Rinker]

This is really interesting. I'd like more people to read Jim's Tundra Lite Tail Wheel.doc and see what others think, especially those who have multi-thousands of hours in light tail wheel aircraft. My only tailwheel time is in 180's and being a heavier airplane I wasn't feeling some of what Jim described in a really light aircraft. What got my attention is that up here we have been aware of the problem of having the cables too tight and this causing some real ground control issues for some of the guys. When they loosened up the tension on the springs, a little slack in the cables - it really helped. Jim is saying get rid of the whole mess and it's even better....very interesting!

[bluemax]

I think the concept of steering the tailwheel using only rudder input (at higher speeds) and differential braking (at lower speeds) would be worth trying. And I'll bet the rudder would be much easier to deflect, without the connection to the tailwheel steering arms. I think I might be in the market for one of Jim's tailwheels.

Steve, do you use pretty much rudder only when you are moving "faster than taxi" speed? Or are you touching the toe brakes every now and then?

[stede52]

Max,
Keep in mind that you can adjust the tension to your liking and with mine I can use rudder only during a speeds of faster than taxi, I always use small amounts of brake input during a standard taxi, which was not different when I with a spring tailwheel. The the big difference is in the controlabilily of the turn with or without brakes. I have to go back to the smooth transtioning aspect of the design, your turn or correctlon doesn't start with a quick movement and therefore you are less likely to over-control.

[bluemax]

Well. . . I just mailed Jim a check. Now I'll have a tailwheel to compliment the 29" Airstreaks.

[Dauckster]

I have upgraded to Highlander gear on a Escapade and am just using the standard tires. The highlander gear is higher and increases the angle of how the plane sits on the ground and in taxi. Would this look kind strange with the tail wheel being almost as big as the mains? I still have the solid little tail wheel and not a fan and I could actually use a little more weigh in the tail for a better weight and balance. Is this a valid option?