n3437d wrote:First, I am not an AI nor AP and am no "George" ....
Well, so far you've got a great reputation then!
The Scott 3200 has an internal, flat, angular spring (PN 3222) which works in conjunction with a "pawl" (PN 3219) and some detents to provide steering which, when excessive force is applied, will allow the tailwheel to "unlock" or "break" free to swivel. The spring can be broken or worn, as can the pawl and/or the detents, and then the swivel will occur too easily.
The spring is backed up by two spacers, PN's 3258 and 3258-1, which if missing will also fail to provide a positive detent. (With the tailwheel in the air it doesn't take a lot of effort to move it into full swivel, but on the ground with aircraft weight, it takes more force.)
There are also some thrust washers and some compression (coil) springs which provide a sort of "friction-clutch" to help prevent excessively loose steering action. While some illustrations show 5 such springs, in fact onl 3 are used for the 170 application. (If your CFI has been flying a heavier airplane using all 5 compresion springs, that may help explain his view.)
Just because your tailwheel is being evaluated by a "tailwheel CFI", unless he's been flying several 170's which he can use to make comparisons, ... He may be prone to accuse the Scott 3200 on a 170 as being "loose" when in fact, it is just fine. 170's do indeed require a bit of braking action during ground manuevers. Simple rudder pressure alone is rarely sufficient, in my experience.
With the aircraft resting on the ground and the tailwheel "in trail" as if it has been rolling forward several feet... will require a healthy shove on the fuselage just forward of the horizontal stabilizer before the tailwheel will completely unlock and swivel. (Don't push on the vertical stab. There's a bracket in there that's easily broken at the fwd portion of the dorsal fin.)
The Aircraft Spruce catalog lists the parts, as does Sacramento Sky Ranch but unfortunately the illustration leaves a lot to be desired, if you're looking for an illustration which will lend an understanding of this tailwheel.
http://www.sacskyranch.com/acatalog/scott_tailwheel.pdf