Warbirds without retractable tailwheels

[warbird1]

This is an odd topic, I know, but looking at pictures of various warbirds has me wondering about which warbirds did or did not have retractable tailwheels. Would there be any particular advantage to either have or not have a retractable tailwheel? I can only think of one advantage to having a retractable tailwheel - parasite drag. Any others?

So, which warbirds, big or small, with retractable main landing gear, DON'T have retractable tailwheels?

[CAPFlyer]

Any DC-3 EXCEPT the Super DC-3s (like the R4D-7) and certain ones modified with it (like Cavanaugh's) and the T-6 are the only two I can think of off the top of my head.

There is only any noticeable drag created when you forget to lock the tailwheel and/or lock it in a trailing position.

[Hal B]

T6/SNJ

[JohnTerrell]

The Hawker Hurricane, early to mid/late model Spitfires and almost all Bf-109s.

These aircraft are early designs when compared to other fighter aircraft designed durring WWII. It is more simple to add a fixed tailwheel than to work out the mechanisms to make a retractable type. I can't think of really any advantage, other than it is one less thing to worry about failing. When the USAF was having bit of a problem with the tailwheels on Mustangs in the 50's, they simply fixed them in the down position.

Last edited by JohnTerrell on Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[bdk]

It was all about drag. Why else would you add the complexity?

Most B-17s now flying have had the tailwheel retract system disabled.

[EDowning]

Yale

[Tulio]

PT-17
Ryan STM
WACO UPF-7
Fairchild PT-19, -23, 26
DH Chipmunk (?)

Warbirds too, right? : )

Saludos,


Tulio

[warbird1]

Most B-17s now flying have had the tailwheel retract system disabled.

Why is that? Is it just to cut down on the chances of something breaking?

[JDK]

It is easy to forget the rapid pace of military aviaton development in the 1930s. It's often overlooked that the environment was very different in 1939 to what we saw in 1945, and what seems 'normal' in '45 was radical to a 1930s viewpoint.

The Hawker Hurricane, early to mid/late model Spitfires and almost all Bf-109s.

The Spitfire and Hurricane are actually interesting stories. The prototype Spitfire was originally fitted, like all good aircraft of the time, with a tailskid and skids made sense as they acted as landing brakes to slow aircraft automatically on landing - remember most airfields everywhere were grass. Good RAF pilots three-pointed their aircraft so they landed short, using what would now be regarded as small (circular) grass airfields.





A tailwheel was soon specified for production aircraft (probably as soon as someone tried to push the a/c anywhere) and the retractable tailwheel improvement came in on the Spitfire Mk.VIII. The Mk.IX took the Mk.V structure with the two-stage Merlin, but kept the fixed tailwheel of the Mk.V.

The Hurricane was designed and built with a retractable tailwheel! (Not many people know that.)



However, as bdk's mentioned it gave endless trouble, and eventually, the prototype's tailwheel was fixed down.

Spin trials showed the Hurricane needed some ventral keel area at the tail, so a ventral fin was added to the early production Hurricanes, going some way to mask the now fixed tailwheel from some of the airflow; the tailwheel's keel effect being more useful, I suspect, than a couple of mph retracted.



(Other British types with retractable tailwheels that didn't work properly and were fixed down in frontline service, either permanently or temporarily, included the original Bristol Blenheim, Short Stirling, Avro Manchester / Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax, IIRC. That's short version of a complex topic)

Cheers,

(Pics from var websites...)

[visaliaaviation]

In the immediate post war period, P\F-51D Mustangs normally operated with the tail wheel fixed in the down position, doors removed. In later versions of the manuals, original WWII era illustrations have a bar added to the national insignia and fixed tailwheels drawn in. Of course, the retractable function was retained and could be/was reactivated if needed. Seems it was a peace time maintenance savings effort.

[mike furline]

L-2, L-3, L-4, etc.... tailwheel's always down.


Mike

Last edited by mike furline on Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Swiss Mustangs]

Swiss D-3801 and Swiss C-3603 - both without retractable tail-wheels







Martin

[Bill Greenwood]

Most Merlin Spits did not have retract tailwheels. First it was not really needed, fast climb and dive, turning ability, were more important, and you did not need the weight of the extra mechanism at the aft end. As top speeds went up to 450 mph the 5 or 10 mph streamline penalty of the little wheel down made it worth the retract.

[JDK]

Most Merlin Spits did not have retract tailwheels. First it was not really needed, fast climb and dive, turning ability, were more important, and you did not need the weight of the extra mechanism at the aft end. As top speeds went up to 450 mph the 5 or 10 mph streamline penalty of the little wheel down made it worth the retract.

As outlined above, Bill, I find it amusing that the old technology Hurricane prototype was built with a retractable tailwheel, while the new technology Spitfire was given a fixed skid!

The single, prototype Spitfire Mk.III was the first fitted with a retractable tailwheel as part of the bells and whistles upgrade.

A prototype for the planned Mk III variant (N3297) first flew on 16 March 1940 - featuring a Merlin XX engine and many structural changes including a 'universal' wing able to accommodate a variety of weapons. This model was intended to replace the Mk I and II in production, but the Merlin XX was needed for the Hurricane II and production was switched to the Spitfire Mk V instead.

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/types/uk/su ... tfire1.htm

[Jack Cook]

Wildcat, SB2C, SBD, Zero, Oscar, Nate, Nell Sally ect
Oh and S-2 Tracker