The International Cessna 170 Association

Like a good ramp neighbor, after I land, I pull straight down my tie-down row and shut down, then turn and hand push into my tiedown spot. I've noticed recently that there is an occasional squeak coming the leafsprings connecting to the tailwheel (Scott 3200). However, the squeak is only there at that moment, and only right after shut down. As soon as I rotate the tail end around and push into my spot, the sound disappears. It is also not present when I'm pushing out to start up. Any ideas here? I haven't noticed any cracks around the leafsprings and the only clue is some possible slipping as the top leafspring appears to have shifted slightly (maybe 1cm).

I once had a squeak from the tailspring area. It turned out to be caused by the spring pack being loose at the attach bolt. It hadn't been properly shimmed so the spring pack could rotate up and down, just a tiny amount enough to squeak.

Interesting, I'll have that looked at. It's interesting to me that it only occurs periodically after a flight and shutdown, and no other times.

bgiesbrecht wrote:Interesting, I'll have that looked at. It's interesting to me that it only occurs periodically after a flight and shutdown, and no other times.

Sounds like it happens when the tailwheel is in a reversed caster while pushing backwards? That may place a different stress on the mainspring.

It's interesting to me that it only occurs periodically after a flight and shutdown, and no other times.[/quote].
Well if it squeaked in flight I could be flying a little low. Maybe the shim Pak is loose or mis aligned.

Only after a flight?


It may be "speed flutter" affecting the spring stack.