Thanks for the pics, TEEJ.
Never noticed before that like the Victor I used to fly in the IL 62 has a "tailwheel" (or in fact 2). We used to call ours the 19th wheel, can't recall it ever being required to do its job!
Story doing the rounds many years back, the design was "stolen" by soviet spies of the cold war era, but the "soviet boffins" did not believe the wheels should be as far back as they are and moved them forward ... hence with the weight of the engines at the back it has a tendency to sit on its arse when on the ground and needs the tail strut.... the VC10 with the wheels in the right place is perfectly balanced ..
