ERA22LA382

The pilot reported that while landing the vintage tailwheel airplane on a turf airstrip, the airplane veered left when the tailwheel touched down. The airplane traveled off the runway and the right wing struck a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. Postaccident examination of the tailwheel revealed that the locking mechanism was worn, which likely resulted in the tailwheel not being appropriately aligned with the rudder position during the landing.

On August 21, 2022, about 1400 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC, N44FC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Clermont, Florida. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that while landing at the Seminole Lake Gliderport on runway 18, the airplane veered left off the runway when the tailwheel touched down and the right wing struck a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot added that the internal tailwheel centering lock spring may have been fractured or disconnected. A mechanic who examined the airplane stated that he was very familiar with the make and model tailwheel as he had over 8,000 hours of flight experience in tailwheel airplanes and has had inspection authorization for over 50 years. He further stated that the make and model tailwheel locking mechanism tend to wear after 500 to 700 hours. After it is worn, although the tailwheel is supposed to follow the rudder, the tailwheel may stay deflected to one side after the rudder is returned to neutral. The mechanic examined the accident tailwheel in December 2022. He did not disassemble it further as he could tell it was worn from external examination and had seen the issue several times in the past. The mechanic added that after he replaced the old Maule tailwheel with a new API tailwheel, the pilot noticed a significant improvement in the ground steering of the airplane.