Operation on Turf with Wheelpants

[dafast1]

Just now, spending a few days repairing and painting my pants after landing on rougher strips last Fall before I saw the light and took them off; could do without the hassle of this work. In the future, I’ll be taking them off for the strips I go into, or keep them on and only land and the hard.

[DanH]

Rubber bottoms. Mold in place then cut away the glass underneath, bond into place. The edges are tight to the tire sidewall.

I operate these with 3/4" ground clearance, everywhere. In rough places I'm more concerned with tire's rolling diameter than the wheelpants.
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[Laird]

Originally Posted by DanH

Rubber bottoms. Mold in place then cut away the glass underneath, bond into place. The edges are tight to the tire sidewall.

I operate these with 3/4" ground clearance, everywhere. In rough places I'm more concerned with tire's rolling diameter than the wheelpants.
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Dan,
That's freaking brilliant, I must have repaired and repainted my wheelpants 4 times in the past 1900 hours (including landing on a dirt road at Sulphur Creek Ranch in Idaho).
I guess your using a similar technique to your plenum seals?

Nice.

Laird

[DanH]

Originally Posted by Laird

I guess your using a similar technique to your plenum seals?

Yep, same thing, room temperature urethane rubber rolled into 9oz plain weave between 4 mil plastic sheets. The trimmed galoshes glue on with a urethane adhesive. There's an old thread somewhere around here.

I've slapped patches on worn spots over the years, torn them back off when they too wore through, and slapped on new ones. Last annual I didn't have any urethane handy, so I rolled Ultra Black into the glass, which had the advantage of making the wear patch self adhesive. Through it all the pants themselves have been unsullied, except for when I crunched one on a high hangar track, rolling backwards. Those tails are still glass.

[rv6n6r]

Good ideas with the rubber etc. and I'm not saying not to do it but at the end of the day with 1.5" clearance it should be fine. I'm not sure exactly how much I have on my -6 with old style wheel pants but I think it's about that. My landings include many on grass, gravel, dirt, alkalai flats, beach sand -- oh and the occasional asphalt runway . After thousands of such landings the bottoms are fairly scraped up but I only see that when I take them off for maintenance. Go use the plane and have fun!

[RVbySDI]

My 9A lives on 3000’ grass strip. 700 hours with at least one landing from every flight on the grass. Unlike DanH, I have no special construction with the wheel pants. They look as good now as when they were new.

[DanH]

The rubber galoshes are not needed for grass ops. They just allow grass ops with pants mounted low to cover the max amount of tire, while sealing the perimeter of the opening. In other words, drag reduction, and for all I know they don't buy much more than a milliknot.

However, if I moved to a semi-rough or soft place, I'd do like Marvin McGraw and install 6.00's and larger pants. They look great on the airplane, and do not seem to slow him down much, if any.

https://www.airport-data.com/aircraf...001423968.html

[MarkW]

Hey Dan,
Gotta ask. What do you do for chalks when visiting a ramp? I carry a small set of chalks as most FBO's don't have anything small enough.
However I bet I have 1" - 1-1/4" clearance.
Doesn't seem like a 1/2" chalk would work very well.

[Carlos151]

Originally Posted by Jpm757

380X150 tires may be an option. You will however need to enlarge the wheel opening.

+1 for these larger tires that fit the standard 5” rims and use the same tubes as the 5.00x5 tires. Had to widen the wheel pants slightly, maybe lost a 1/2 knot. The wider tires do great on turf, especially when it’s a bit soft. YMMV.

[DanH]

Originally Posted by MarkW

What do you do for chalks when visiting a ramp?

6" lengths of 3/4" aluminum angle, strung together in pairs.