On Friday, December 7, 2012 2:32:41 PM UTC-7, soartech wrote:
THANKS ALL for your helpful info.

I was simply trying to determine if my glider had a typical tail wheel

weight.

The first time I tried to lift the tail to install a dolly I was

dismayed to discover

how heavy it is. All I had to compare it with is the club fleet of

three SGS machines which all

have very light tail weights. It seems as if the older gliders

(Cherokee, 1-26, 1-34) are

almost balanced on the wheel whereas the glass ships are quite heavy.

Does this make them any trickier to land? I realize the flying

balance

is most likely different from wheel balance i.e CG and wheel are not

co-located.

The average of the single place tail weights without pilot aboard is

66 lbs. and mine

is 72 lbs. so I am right in the ballpark.

Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement? Or do you

risk your back with

the poor lifting position that the tail boom presents?

I agree with Bob's comment about Mark Mocho's tow bar and tail boom lifter. It works very well and there are at least 30 or 40 satisfied users at Moriarty and there are many other users around the US! His website is: www.mmfabrication.com