26" Airstreaks

[Av8r3400]

To those of you running 26" Airstreaks, what pressure are you running them at for general use?

[AirFox]

8 lbs Larry. 900 hours so far on mostly grass.

[Av8r3400]

I was running about 4. Taxiing across the ramp to the grass was rearing them up quickly. I'll try 8-10 and see...

[rosslr]

8-10lbs 400 hrs.

I coat mine with truck bed liner and it is interesting to see the wear pattern. At lower pressure the inside and outside of the tyre seems to be the contact areas - at 10 lbs it is more even.

cheers

r

[Av8r3400]

How long does your bed-liner last?

I coated mine (Herculiner) last winter and they didn't last 20 hours. The second coat peeled off right away and just taxiing across the ramp to the grass wore off the rest.

[efwd]

Larry, wonder if your "very low" tire pressure induced the accelerated wear. Bet you get more than 20 hrs this time.
Eddie

[rosslr]

Hi Larry,

I found that it is essential to prepare the tyres really well for the Herculiner. I wash them, then rough them up with a wire brush before finally cleaning them off with Xylene. I only use one coat now as I couldn't get the second coat to stick well. I re-do them when they start to need it. - about 40-50 hours on gravel grass. And I run about 10psi.

It has been a learning curve in using the stuff but I think it is worth it given the price of these tyres - especially to have them shipped to OZ.

cheers

ross

[David47]

It has been a learning curve in using the stuff but I think it is worth it given the price of these tyres - especially to have them shipped to OZ.

cheers

ross

Hey Ross, have you ever considered using the Desser 22" ?. I have 26" Airstreaks for my build but I'm also looking at the Desser, given comments on another thread on this forum .... they appear to be considerably cheaper and handle very well by all accounts.

[rosslr]

Yeah Dave, will definitely look at them when the time comes to replace. I do like the clearance of the 26' and wonder what different the 22's would make -( I have a 3 balde 75" prop).

Hope you are having fun over there!

r

[Av8r3400]

New process and product coming on line soon...

Watch for an upcoming Trent Palmer video. I'm also following suit this winter.

[av8rps]

The Goodyear blimp tires are a good option for those of us that don't live in the mountains as while they aren't as soft as the AK Bush tires, you'll probably never wear a set out as there is a lot of rubber on them. And yet they still give that big tire bushplane look along with more practical off and on airport capabilities.

Guys in Alaska have sucessfully used the Goodyears for decades in the bush. Search the subject on Supercubs.org and you'll find lots of testemonials. Again, they are not as soft as the AKB's, so if you really like to land in the super gnarly places the AKB's are the best. But the Goodyears still give you the big tire footprint, while also providing almost unlimited pavement landings. And they are A LOT LESS MONEY.

So before someone asks, the Goodyears are approximately 24.5 inches tall and 9 inches wide on the rim inflated to 10 lbs. The Goodyear is significantly larger than even the biggest 8.50's when compared next to eachother Also best to run the Goodyear tubeless as they are known to spin on the rim when pressures are run low, destroying the valve stem and causing a flat.

And in my opinion, the Goodyear looks really good against a Kitfox as it seems sized more appropriately to the airframe than many of the bigger AKB's (I have a set of 29 AKB's and they look HUGE on a Kitfox 4 - too large imho. The 26 AKB is better, but the Goodyear looks even better relative to the aircraft size).

[Av8r3400]

With a fresh coat of Herculiner on them, they are ready for the rest of the summer.

16124

I looked at the Goodyears a couple years back at OSH. Much heavier and stiffer carcass (6-ply) tire and 10 pounds per tire heavier, than the 26" Airstreaks. If a person was going to spend $725 (https://www.skygeek.com/goodyear-26-x-10-5-x-6-smooth-tundra-tire.html) per tire on the GoodYears, the jump to $995 (http://www.airframesalaska.com/26-Ultralight-Alaskan-Bushwheels-p/26126.r2.htm) for (new) Airstreaks is really not that much more. Now if you can find a set of used ones like I did, all the better!


More to come on this topic this winter...