Help needed for Mosquito tailwheel restoration!

[<simon>]

Hey everyone,
I recently aquired an original De Havilland Mosquito tailwheel i am seeking advice on how to restore/preserve this unit.
There are small corrosion pits over most of the assembly and one of the axle arms has worn down to the point where there isnt much aluminium holding the wheel in place.
I am wondering if anyone knows the existence of De Havilland plans/drawings/sketchs which would help in the disassembly of the tailwheel.
One thing i have figured out is the spring inside the shock absorber must be still under huge force -between 200kg and 2 tonne! Quite a large and..ummm..dangerous force!
Any advice or info would be useful.
I've attached a couple of pictures (i think) if they help at all



Thanks
Simon

[Micdrow]

Hi Simon,

Maybe these will help and maybe not. Last picture is from the book Squadron signal mosquito along with explanation of look of rear wheel and why it looks the way it does.

[<simon>]

Thanks heaps Micdrow, that second picture in particular could be very helpful!

[A4K]

Try contacting the RNZAF Museum - they have a ton of original documents and components and are extremely helpful.

Apparently the nose wheel of the vampire was the same unit used as the tail wheel in the Mosquito, so that might open up another avenue for you, too...

[Heinz]

Also try the RAAF museum at Point Cook, they could help you as they are restoring a Mosquito at the moment.

Nice item to have as well Simon!

[<simon>]

Ok I'll try both of those contacts
Thanks for that

A4K, is do you mean the museum at Wanaka?
Or is there an official Air Force museum?

Thanks again guys
Simon

[A4K]

G'day Simon,

No, not the Fighter Pilot's Museum at Wanaka. The official RNZAF Museum (also known as 'Airforce world' in a stupid tourism gimmick) is at Wigram, Christchurch.

Air Force Museum Christchurch Attraction New Zealand Tourist Attractions Christchurch Entertainment

Good luck with the project, mate!

Evan

[Aussie Mossie]

The RAAF Museum recently restored a Mossie tailwheel for its main restoration project.
Home

To remove the dowells at the base of the compression cylinder you will need a special tools to extract the dowells while the leg is compressed to release the load on the dowells and to release the rod that holds it all together.

The compression cylinder uses rubber blocks in compression to provide the "spring".

The Mosquito Manual book has the drawings to assist.

[<simon>]

Thanks heaps Mossie! When you say special tool i assume this is quite a large piece of equipment, not to mention reasonably rare?

Are the dowell pins the only thing holding the cylinder in the outer casing?

Typical me, ask all these questions without looking at the site...

Thanks again for your help,
Simon