Herculiner on tyres

[Eric Page]

Eric, you won't need to worry about this coating process if you're using the Desser 8.50s like I had on my Citabria. I not only abused those tires extensively on pavement, I signed off several tail wheel endorsements over a 3 year period and they still had lots of life left in them. I'm talking many, many hundreds of landings.

Thanks, Alex. That's good to know!

[WWhunter]

Agree with alexM, I've used the GY 26" (blimp) tires, the 8.50 smoothies, 26" and 29" AkBushwheel Airstreaks. They all have their advantages/disadvantages.

The 26" goodyears, are heavy but almost bullet proof. Their downside on these weight of airplanes is they are very stiff and not much cushioning affect. When deflated, they can slip on the rim and bust the valve stem.

I currently have the 8.50 smoothies on a couple different planes. Awesome all around tire if you're not worried about the fellow flyers making fun of your tiny tires.
They're quite durable, especially if you land on pavement more than grass/dirt. Best advantage....cheapest 'bush' type airplane tire. Also very light if you can run them tubeless.


The Airstreaks are excellent tires for pure off airport use. The 26" where perfect for my use. I upgraded to 29" just because of tire envy. Didn't need them and they are heavy! I'm thinking they added 35 lbs to my EW. Might even have been more. They definitely grab when landing on paved runways, you can feel your wallet lighten on every landing. LOL If you not quite perfectly aligned with the runway, you will know!!