Hi, My Legacy is fitted with an API 4" castering tail wheel.
She “lives” on a grass strip. Wet weather, will see me grounded, due to soft surface/tail wheel digging in, for days after other aircraft have been able to taxi & take off.
I don’t often get to use a sealed stip, when I do the tail wheel transmists quite a lot of vibration & noise inside the aircraft.
The solution would seem to be a larger diameter (6"/ 150mm), pneumatic tail wheel. Better floatation & lower rolling resistance combined with less noise
To this end I have been looking at Peter Anson’s tail wheels 6″ Pneumatic Tailwheels and Accessories | Peter Anson – Engineering.
I initially selected the Nylon /AI 6" -1 .25" Wheel (as used by Peter himself on his Sonex). Unfortunatly I have now added, Peters resent addition to the options, the “Hota” 150 - 50mm electric scooter wheel.
- The Nilon /AI is narrower , lighter & slightly cheaper than the Hota.
- The Hota being wider will have better soft/rough dirt strip handling BUT is slightly heavier and will likly be “draggiere” reduce speed & increase fuel consumption.
To assist me break the deadlock, I would like to hear all constructive comments on the options listed and on my move to the 6" wheel. 
As You Were.
Circumstances have made the decision for me - Peter Anson emailed me that the Nylon/ AI 6" - 1.25" is not in stock at the moment
So the Hota 105 - 50 mm is what I am purchasing - Will do a review in a month or so.
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New Peter Anson “Hota” 150-50 mm tail wheel fitted. Looks great! Taxi/flight testing will have to wait for weather to improve. New set up 0.213 Kg heavier than 4". Great service from Peter Anson.
Hi skippy,
Looks good! where did u get the tail wheel bracket?
full swivel?
michael.
I am the registered builder/finisher of my Legacy however the starter and main builder, from plans, was the person responsible for the tail wheel as a whole.
I understand he purchased a complete tail wheel from API (https://apitailwheels.com/) but was unhappy with the resulting angle - two custom made brackets/ head stocks later, he was satisfied with the angle - this is the bracket I am using. Aside from the angle, its an exact copy of the API system. It has a full 360 degree caster, very useful for parking.
Hi Skippy,
Thanks for the info. Yes flyboy accessories made some sonex brackets but they used the vans required angle about 21 degrees,
blake was going to make some new sonex sockets set at 30 degrees, but the vendor unexpectedly died. peter anson uses 28 degrees. The flyboy sockets could be made to work if you cut the socket with an angle grinder, bend it to 28-30 degrees, and weld it shut.
And yes differential braking required for full swivel tailwheel.
michael.
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Test taxi/flight to day. All went well.
New tail wheel certainly helps with taxying, need less power .
In flight, hard to say but possibly slight more forward trim in Cruise.
What brakes are you using?
Hi Murray,
Tracy O’Brien Hydraulic toe brakes
Purchased a spare inner tube 6 x 1.25" (recommended by Peter A) from a disability equipment supply shop. The tube features a 90 degree valve stem, which I hope will be a bit more accessible than the OM 45 fitted .
Turns out the 90 degree tube valve stem, shown in the product photo, is not what you get. The delivered tube has the common 45 degree stem.
