Spare Parts Fits SEGA or Van's tailwheels.  Order below.

Control arm.  The control arm can be worn by the locking pin.  If it does, order a new one here. 

Locking pin and spring.  If yours got lost when it flew across the hangar, order one here.  

Axle bolt, nuts, washers, cotter pins, etc can be ordered also.  Just call or email.

Shipping, see www.flyboyaccessories.com  for ordering and current prices

Deluxe tailwheel tire.  Fits RV, Rocket, and Screaming Eagle tailwheels.  I saw these at Oshkosh 2007 and knew that I had to add them to the items offered here.  They are 6 ounces LIGHTER than the standard Van's tailwheel tire.  They come with precision sealed bearings that should give exceptional service.  They also come with hubcaps for those who want that extra streamlined look. 
 

Tailwheel tire.  Fits RV, Rocket, and Screaming Eagle tailwheels.  Weight 42 ounces when used with standard Van's type bearings. 
 

Sealed bearings.  Sorry, I am no longer going to supply these bearings due to a few failures reported back to me.  Even a few failures are too many to risk causing a problem.

Note: There have been a couple of reports of these bearings failing in service after a very short time.  They may have been installed improperly or maybe they were overtightened.  I personally had over 150 hours on my set when I swapped to the deluxe tire shown above.  Others have had over 500 hours on a set of these bearings.

I can't say why a few guys have had problems and others have had great service.  Please be aware and make certain that your bearings go in straight and don't overtighten your axle nut!  Tighten just enough to remove the clearance between the tailwheel forks and the bearing.  That is enough! Skip the wrench and hand tighten if possible.

Vince's Rocket Webpages CD   Now available, my webpages on CD.  Over 230 megabytes of Rocket photos and other info.   For entertainment only.  No liability is assumed or implied by me collecting and disseminating this type of information. 

Check Policy:  You are welcome to send me a check for your purchases.  Be certain to include a note stating exactly what you are ordering so I don't send you the wrong stuff!  I will ship your items as soon as the check clears. 

Foreign checks, including Canadian checks, are a bit problematic for me.  My bank charges $5 USD extra to process them.  So, unless it's a postal money order or other recognized internationally accepted check, please add $5 USD to your remittance.  Also, make sure that the check is in USD please.  And make sure that you arrange appropriate shipping with me.

To avoid all of these restrictions, you may purchase items by clicking on the PayPal links listed.  PayPal is easy to use.  PayPal also allows you to simply use your credit card even if you don't have a PayPal account.  Foreign customers still need to arrange shipping beforehand.

PayPal Policy:  Everyone uses PayPal so this should be old news.  Buy with confidence using PayPal.   I am a longtime PayPal user myself and have never had a problem.   PayPal is easy and you can simply use your credit card by following the PayPal "Add to Cart" buttons listed if you don't already have a PayPal account.

Best of all, using PayPal allows me to ship immediately since I'm not waiting for your check to arrive and clear.

Shipping Charges: 

Shipping charges, please see www.flyboyaccessories.com  for ordering and shipping prices

Return Policy: 

#1)  If you have any problems with your order, please contact me first.  I will do whatever I can to make it right, including refunding your money for any reason after you return the item in question.  I want happy customers.  Angry customers are really bad for business and they give me unwanted ulcers.  Ugh.

#2)  Refer to #1 above.  The only exceptions that I can think of are if you cut my product in half, melt it down, run over it with a fork lift, or do other similarly stupid tricks.  So far I've never had a problem with this.  Please don't be the first.

Fair enough?

From: "Jeff "

I have been very pleased with your new tailwheel. We operate out of an ex-navy base that has deep tie-down stanchions every 25 feet or so. We used to bottom out the tailwheel going over them (crunch..scrape..ouch!) it was very difficult not to hit them. SEGA's tailwheel fixed the problem by increasing clearance. Coupled with Wayne Haddath's steering link, steering is very positive and responsive without being twitchy. I highly recommend both!    Jeff

Mike Shield's installation.  Mike retrofit the SEGA fork to his existing Van's tailwheel on his gorgeous RV-7x.  Mike is using the stock Van's tire.  http://www.c-goju.com/

RV-6er Jerry Sheppard had this to say about his new SEGA tailwheel:

A few positives from this new fork / wheel that I have experienced;

1. Change in forward pitch. For my RV-6 the pitch change is about 1/2 inch in terms of prop clearance. View thru the wind screen is better than the Van's tailwheel.

2. Clearance. The pic speaks for its self.

3. Angle change in wheel position. The increase in angle from the Van's to this new model really improves the taxi. Far less foot pressure is required to move the tail wheel while moving or in tight turns. Just knowing that I am not placing undue pressure on the rudder cables is a great peace of mind.

Just thought I would pass on a product I have found to be a positive change for the RV family.  Jerry

Steve Formhal's installation on his RV-8.

  Here is a shot of a wheelpant installed on one of Screaming Eagle's tailwheels.  The Screaming Eagle tailwheel is more readily adaptable to the wheelpant due to the shorter length and the more optimal shaft configuration.  N4XU pilot, Paul Siegel, reports a speed increase with this mod.  Sweet.

This is John Crabtree's new SEGA tailwheel.  John had an old non-swiveling Van's tailwheel assembly with a bent main spring.  The old Van's main spring was machined to accept the new tailwheel assembly.  John reports that the SEGA tailwheel is a HUGE improvement over the old unit.  Handling is much improved, clearance is improved, and the view over the nose is improved.   Notice that John covered his steering chains with shrink tubing.  We don't know if it improves drag, but it does help keep the grass from accumulating in the links.  It also helps keep the chains from scuffing the paint on the bottom of the rudder... a common occurrence with all Van's type setups.

Installation problems

Yes, they happen.  Even though I've shipped over 100 forks, occasionally, in spite of all of my Herculean efforts, something snafus and something just doesn't fit quite right.  As I stated above, over the years there have been minor variations in the Van's tailwheel.  Just enough differences to cause me to pull out my hair.  So, here's what to do if you have a problem with your new tailwheel:
1) browse the section below to see if the answer is already there.  Most problems are dirt simple and easy to fix.
2) contact me.  If the answer isn't dirt simple, I will replace your fork, refund your money, or do whatever it takes to make it right.

So, on to the most common difficulties:

#1 The locking pin doesn't engage properly because the pin won't move out of the fork.

This was the problem that caused me to lose my hair.  The problem is caused by the locking pin in the SEGA fork being too low to work properly in the Van's socket.  The cure for this is to raise the locking pin which is most easily done by measuring very carefully before you order a SEGA fork.  I will gladly exchange forks if this happens to you. 

This problem can also be caused by burrs on the locking pin.  The locking pin should be profiled to look like this:

Use your scotchbrite wheel to polish the pin.  Break all of the edges so that they are not sharp. In other words, slightly rounded edges will not snag where they aren't supposed to and they will slide into the notch in the control arm more easily.

The blunt profile of the pin on the left allows  more of the straight sides of the pin to engage the control arm.  If you overly round the nose of the locking pin it simply pops out of the control arm too easily.

#2 The locking pin disengages when it shouldn't.

Usually this is caused by burrs on the locking pin preventing complete engagement with the control arm or simply that the control arm is worn.  Deburr the locking pin as described above in #1.   The control arm may be repaired by squaring the corners of the notch or order a new one by calling me.

#3 When I tightened the big nut on top of the fork I couldn't move the fork any longer.

This is caused when the socket is just a wee bit larger than the fork can accommodate. When you tighten the nut, it compresses the control arm onto the socket too much. That's not good. There should be a small amount of clearance between the socket and the control arm after you tighten the nut all the way.

You can either add a thin washer on top of the fork to shim the nut up a little, or grind, sand, or machine a few thousanths off of your bronze bushing on the bottom of the socket.

A washer would be easiest, but can be tough to find just the right thickness. You'd want one that 7/8" OD and 1/2" ID with just the right thickness to give you a bit of clearance to loosen things up. Material doesn't really matter since after the nut is tightened there won't be any movement of this washer. Copper, nylon, aluminum or steel should be OK.

Install the new washer directly on top of the fork and under the large fender washer.

If you choose to remove a little material from the bushing, that is fine too. A bit more permanent. This bushing doesn't usually wear down under normal use, so thinning it won't hurt. It's your choice on how to grind it down. Try to keep the grinding even and square as best you can but don't get too hung up on it.. it's not the space shuttle. It can tolerate a little off square.

This problem can also be caused by variations in the thickness of your control arm.  Yes, even that dimension varies... another reason that I have no hair left.

#4 My tailwheel tire isn't centered very well in the fork

This is usually because the tires that we use are not centered on their hub very well.  They can be off by 1/8" or more.  Rather than fret about it, just shim as needed with a washer or two.  Or try turning the tire around in the fork.  Sometimes that will help a bit.

Additional product comments and info

   Screaming Eagle Graphics and Accessories, LLC is proud to offer this improved full swivel tailwheel.  I give credit to Jim Winings for the original idea for this product.  Jim is a mechanical genius who has come up with no less than 4 modifications for the Rockets that are now standard.  Thanks Jim.

The unit is made entirely with aircraft quality hardware and 4130 chromoly steel.  Order a new tire separately or reuse your existing Van's tire.

The Screaming Eagle tailwheel is designed to fit the tapered spring shaft commonly found on Van's taildraggers, Harmon Rockets, and F1 Rockets.  It can be used any experimental taildragger up to 2000+ pounds gross weight.

The design goals of the new unit were: 1) improve the steering response, particularly when the plane is aft loaded. 2) improve the ground clearance at the bottom front edge of the fork to reduce the chance of "crashing" the fork into uneven pavement.   Both goals were met and the unit easily outperforms the Van's type tailwheel units under all conditions.

 As you can see in the photo above, the Screaming Eagle tailwheel accepts the same tire already used by thousands of Van's and Rocket aircraft.   However, the Screaming Eagle units are designed to fit other tires also.  

The tailwheel fork is also available by itself.  This allows owners of the Van's type tailwheels to quickly and easily swap forks to the new design while using their existing hardware.  Retrofitting is quick and easy, usually requiring only one wrench to swap the units.  Please measure your existing tailwheel socket height before ordering. 

More info on the design history. For those who just can't get enough info.

This photo shows the original Van's type tailwheel on N540VF.  As you can see, the long arm of the fork causes some sagging.  This is aggravated when there is a passenger in the back, heavier loading, etc.   As the load on the tailwheel increases, this type of tailwheel becomes less responsive to steering inputs.

Another major drawback to this design is that the minimal clearance between the ground and the front of the fork allows this design to snag on uneven pavement.  This usually happens when taxiing from grass back onto pavement.  I have snagged mine several times.  Typically, I hear a loud "BANG", the plane jerks, and then I say a bunch of curse words.  I don't like it.  I have heard of several instances of airframe damage from this type of event.

This is the redesigned tailwheel prototype.  As you can see, the caster angle has changed dramatically and the arm on the fork is considerable shortened.  I can attest that this tailwheel is always responsive to steering inputs, but not twitchy.   I have about 225 hours on this tailwheel now and can find no fault with it whatsoever.  It's just a better performer under all conditions.  As of January 2008, over 130 of these units have been shipped to over 130 happy customers who report their satisfaction with its performance improvements.

As you can see, the clearance in the front of the fork is greatly improved.  I have yet to snag the new design on any uneven pavement.  I like it.

A side benefit of the new tailwheel is that the view over the nose is slightly improved.

More info...

If you have other questions, check the additional info below or  feel free to contact us.  Thanks.

Screaming Eagle Graphics and Accessories
Now online at www.flyboyaccessories.com
Vince Frazier
3963 Caborn Road
Mount Vernon, IN 47620
812-464-1839 M-F
812-985-7309 eves/wknds
vincefrazier@gmail.com   

Return to the homepage:  http://www.vincesrocket.com/
 

Last updated: 03/24/10

CAUTION:  This web site is not a publication of, nor approved by, Harmon LLC, Team Rocket, Van's Aircraft or any other person or entity listed herein, except Screaming Eagle Graphics and Accessories, LLC (Hereafter  abbreviated to S.E.G.A. LLC or similar abbreviation). 

Be advised that I am a blithering idiot with neither brains nor money and my advice is not to be trusted.

Furthermore, the products above are designed, built, and tested by S.E.G.A. LLC.  I am not an engineer, a fabrication expert, or a test pilot.  While I have confidence in everything that S.E.G.A. LLC sells, YOU are the one who decides whether these items are airworthy for YOUR application on the HOMEBUILT that YOU manufacture.  Since S.E.G.A. LLC has no control over whether you use these products on an experimental aircraft, a doghouse, or as a suppository,  S.E.G.A. LLC accepts no responsibility for your use of these products.

So there.  You have been warned!  Vince