On 11/17/2011 2:02 PM, POPS wrote:
I was warned about the possibility of a glassed on tail wheel possibly
being the deciding factor in your tail boon snapping off in a extreme
ground loop incident, whereas a skid or wheel that is intended to tear
off could be the deciding factor in just the opposite happening.
I've left my steel shoe, glued on rubber skid in place, and my super
faired tail wheel I made, off.
Any spinout or repair people care to comment on the idea of the tail
boom slamming into the turf at a high rotation speed with a hard mounted
TW.


Ruh roh! This sort of question is dangerously close to FUDland. (That's
FearUncertaintyDoubtland.) All fans of Absolute Certainty should read no
further!!!

Considered from an energy dissipation perspective, any 'tailwheel mount' that
happens to break away from the fuselage dissipates a finite amount of energy
from what remains in the moving glider, and in that sense reduces the
possibility the next sideways load on the fuselage will have sufficient energy
to break the tailboom. That said, side-load-inducing events are by nature
pretty much uncontrollable (once underway, dry chuckle), dynamic, and
unpredictable...meaning analytical results will always be arguably applicable.

The fact is, absolute answers to the posed question won't be found in reality.

That said, I know of a Zuni (solidly-mounted, fixed tailwheel, albeit by
original design) that has never had a broken tailboom in 2050+ hours. Make of
that what you will, but I'm of the school that believes Joe Pilot can far
better control the *likelihood* of a groundloop through his actions, than he
can the *nature* of any J.P.-induced groundloop.

YMMV
Bob W.