Description
The landing is not a grace note. It is the entire symphony, reduced to two seconds of contact between rubber and tarmac. When a 100cc gasoline-powered warbird with a 96-inch wingspan comes in on final approach at 40 knots, the tail wheel is the first structural element to absorb the kinetic energy of touchdown — and the first to fail if it was selected as an afterthought. The Tarmac assembly is machined from 3K carbon fiber plate with a tensile modulus that exceeds aircraft-grade aluminum at one-third the weight. The wheel fork, axle, and mounting bracket are designed as a single load-path system: lateral force on the tire transfers through the fork arms into the carbon plate and disperses across the mounting footprint into the fuselage stringers, not into a single bolt point.
The included hardware kit uses stainless-steel cap screws with Nyloc insert locking nuts — no thread-locker compound required, no re-torquing between flights. The wheel bearing is a sealed ABEC-5 radial unit lubricated with a low-temperature synthetic grease that maintains viscosity from runway asphalt on a 95°F summer day to a frozen grass strip at 28°F. The tire compound is a medium-durometer polyurethane that wears predictably: you will see the tread shallow over 200 landings, but you will not see sidewall cracking, bead separation, or flat-spotting from a single locked-wheel touchdown.
Compatibility spans 26cc through 100cc gasoline engine classes — from a Hangar 9 Ultra Stick to a CARF-Models 2.6m Extra 330SC. The mounting footprint is slotted for ±3mm of fore-aft adjustment, and the fork arm angle can be set to 0°, 5°, or 10° of positive caster to tune ground-handling behavior for your specific airframe's tail-dragger geometry. This is not a commodity replacement part. It is a landing-gear decision that you make once and fly for five seasons.
Every landing begins with the tail wheel. Make sure yours is ready to write the ending.
Key Features
- ✦ 3K Carbon Fiber Plate Construction — Tensile modulus exceeds aircraft-grade aluminum; one-third the weight of equivalent steel assembly
- ✦ Single Load-Path Design — Wheel fork, axle, and bracket form a continuous force-dispersion system into fuselage stringers
- ✦ Sealed ABEC-5 Bearings — Low-temperature synthetic grease maintains performance from 28°F to 95°F runway conditions
- ✦ Adjustable Caster Geometry — Fork arm angle settable to 0°, 5°, or 10° positive caster for airframe-specific ground handling
- ✦ Nyloc Locking Hardware — Stainless-steel cap screws with insert nuts; no thread locker or re-torquing between flights
- ✦ Medium-Durometer Urethane Tire — Predictable wear over 200+ landings; no sidewall cracking or flat-spotting
Technical Specifications
- Material: 3K Carbon Fiber Plate (fork/bracket), Stainless Steel (hardware), Polyurethane (tire)
- Engine Compatibility: 26cc, 30cc, 50cc, 55cc, 60cc, 70cc, 85cc, 100cc gasoline engines
- Wheel Diameter: Standard tail wheel size for 60-120 size aircraft
- Bearing Rating: ABEC-5 sealed radial bearing
- Mounting: Slotted footprint with ±3mm fore-aft adjustment
- Caster Adjustment: 0°/5°/10° positive caster positions
- Hardware Type: M3/M4 stainless cap screws with Nyloc insert lock nuts
- Tire Compound: Medium-durometer urethane, crack-resistant
- Weight: Ultra-light carbon construction; negligible impact on CG
- Application: Fixed-wing tail-dragger RC aircraft, gas/glow-powered, sport through IMAC-scale aerobatic
When The Tarmac Takes The Load
IMAC and pattern pilots flying 100cc competition airframes where ground handling precision during taxi and rollout directly impacts sequence scores. Warbird enthusiasts with heavy gas-powered scale models whose tail sections carry authentic weight and need structural tail-wheel support that will not fold on a crosswind touchdown. Giant-scale sport flyers upgrading from the stock wire tail wheel that came with the ARF kit — the part that wobbles, bends, and eventually shears at the mounting plate after a season of grass-field operations. The Tarmac is designed for pilots who view the landing gear not as a consumable but as a flight-critical structural system that deserves the same engineering attention as the wing spar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will this fit a 30cc Hangar 9 Ultra Stick or similar ARF tail-dragger?
A: Yes. The slotted mounting footprint accommodates the standard tail wheel mounting pattern found on 30cc-class ARF airframes. The ±3mm slot adjustment allows fine-tuning of the fore-aft position for your specific fuselage.
Q: Do I need to drill new holes in my fuselage to install this?
A: In most cases, the mounting bracket aligns with existing tail wheel hardpoints. If your airframe uses an unusually narrow or wide mounting pattern, you may need to drill one additional hole and install a blind nut — standard giant-scale assembly work.
Q: Can the caster angle be changed after installation?
A: Yes. The fork arm attaches to the carbon bracket with two bolts; removing them and selecting a different caster hole position (0°/5°/10°) takes under two minutes with a hex driver. No disassembly of the fuselage mounting is required.
Q: How does the carbon fiber hold up to grass-field landings with debris?
A: Carbon fiber has excellent impact resistance in this application — the fork arms are designed to flex under lateral load rather than crack. The polyurethane tire shields the bearing from direct debris contact. Inspect the fork arms for delamination after any unusually hard landing as you would any composite airframe component.
Q: Is the tire replaceable when it wears down?
A: The tire is bonded to the hub for weight savings. The assembly is intended as a unit replacement after 200+ landings when the tread depth approaches minimum. The bearing typically outlasts the tire — if you are landing on abrasive surfaces (asphalt, concrete), expect replacement around 150 landings.
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