Like most Avid Flyers mine came with the classic Maule tail wheel. I find the Maule mechanism working great but the solid wheel way too hard. On a smooth paved runway it works great but anywhere else you really want something more shock absorbing... Real tundra tail wheels are ridiculously expensive as they require a complete tail wheel assembly so I decided to go for a low-cost compromise. Matco sell a 6 inch pneumatic nose wheel that is also used in one of their tail wheel assemblies. (Links towheeland tire)
It is made for a thicker axis but with a few tubes, ordered from an on line bearing supplier, it is easy to adapt. I mounted it on the plane just before my last flight and made 3 landings. With approximately the same diameter the mechanism is working like before but the vibrations and the "shaking" is reduced. It is not a dramatic difference but well worth the investment. It should be noted that the Matco wheel is, once in place, 750g (1.63 lbs) lighter than the Maule wheel.
Back in November 2016 I posted my film Old Dreams Never Die
on YouTube. In less than 2 months I got more than 2000 views (that is a lot for
one of my films in that short time) and a lot of very nice comments (thank
you!).
...and then something happened that might be of interest for
those of you who make and post videos on YouTube...
I don't monetise my films, primary because I’m a pure and
altruistic person but also, and only way down the list, as you need more than
my current 87 subscribers and millions of views rather than my 35.000 total
views (thanks mum!) to make any money out of it….
This allows me to, rather than using free elevator music,
use almost any copyrighted music that I like – and through pure magic YouTube identifies
the music and monetises it for the benefit of the copyright owner! Talk about win-win!
There are exceptions to this where you cannot use the chosen
music at all but in most cases the policy is “Monetised by copyright owner” and
"Ads can appear".
You can also verify the policy for your chosen music in
advance HERE
If you read the fine print on YouTube you will find the
following Note: Copyright holders can change their policies and issue copyright
takedown notices under certain circumstances. Your video's status could change
in the future (and may even be removed from YouTube) if the copyright owner
changes the policy that applies to the music in your video.
After 2 months and the 2000+ views (with all the music) I
suddenly discovered that the entire film had been muted due to copyright
infringement on 2 songs that both are (still) listed as If you use this song:
Playback: Viewable worldwide
Advertising: Ads can appear
There is no explanation given to the change in my video’s
"status" (maybe it was seen as offensive…?) and I didn’t even get a
mail from YouTube when it was muted…
I have now replaced the 2 songs, one by the same song but
performed by another artist and one by a completely different song. They are
both to be monetized by the claimants and I hope the status will not change...
For a better viewing experience you can CLICK THIS LINK to
see the film directly on YouTube or you can see it here on the blog by clicking
the image below.
