Van's Air Force
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Tow Bar
- Thread starter RV9798
- Start date
L.Adamson
Well Known Member
yakdriver said:
I agree. I watched Doug Reeves mini review of this towbar on this website, and bought one from AirCraft Spruce for about $78.00. Were in stock (last week) and got it in three days.
For the 6A, it requires no modification, as it fits in the wheelpant holes over the wheel bolt & nut.
The holes on my wheel pants are rather tight fitting, and the Cessna type would have required larger diameter holes.
The listings I've seen so far, are for the 6A & 8A nose gear. I'd check a bit farther, as I'd assume they'd fit 7 & 9's also; but I'm not positive.
L.Adamson
The Bogi-bar will fit any A model RV. The nice thing about it is it locks open and closed so the chances of scratching your wheelpants is nil. When they lock on they are on and won't slip off. I have one for my 7TD and my friends have them for thier 6A and 8A. One thing to check if you are having trouble pushing it back is the breakout force on the nosewheel. It needs to be a minimum of 14lbs although 16-18 works great and the axle nut needs to be 10 ft/lbs so the nosewheel has a little drag. Don
vlittle
Well Known Member
Pete, when you order the Bogy-bar, make sure you get the extension screws and bushings for the nose gear. I beta-tested these for Rich and they work very well to prevent the tow bar from slipping off and tearing up the pant. Rich has also modified the spreader bar to minimize "snap back" and damage to the wheel pant.
Vern
Vern
Even though this is an old thread, I want to thank you guys for mentioning the bogi-bar.
I just received this tonight and I love it. That locking mechanism will probably lock that onto the nose wheel and prevent falling off until unlocked. The handle also seems sturdy and I like the pin on a chain approach for locking it too full extension. Those sponge rubber grips on the handle are deluxe.
The outer dimension of the bar (hole for the wheel pant) is 3/4". The inner diameter of the bar which fits over the big hex nuts is a snug fit.
This is a nice tow bar!
I just received this tonight and I love it. That locking mechanism will probably lock that onto the nose wheel and prevent falling off until unlocked. The handle also seems sturdy and I like the pin on a chain approach for locking it too full extension. Those sponge rubber grips on the handle are deluxe.
The outer dimension of the bar (hole for the wheel pant) is 3/4". The inner diameter of the bar which fits over the big hex nuts is a snug fit.
This is a nice tow bar!
I know this is an old thread, but as it's been revived, i'll comment anyway.
Nonsense. The prop bearing is quite happy to pull your 1800lb airplane through the sky, and to provide an air brake for it when you throttle back and descend. Pushing or pulling on the prop, near the hub, with your ICAO-standard mass will not damage it.
A "tow" bar, that happens to accidentally slip, however, can fail and may require you to build a new wheelpant.
Push and pull on the prop. *Steer* with the Bogi-Bar.
Nonsense. The prop bearing is quite happy to pull your 1800lb airplane through the sky, and to provide an air brake for it when you throttle back and descend. Pushing or pulling on the prop, near the hub, with your ICAO-standard mass will not damage it.
A "tow" bar, that happens to accidentally slip, however, can fail and may require you to build a new wheelpant.
Push and pull on the prop. *Steer* with the Bogi-Bar.
Our standard operation is to avoid pulling / pushing our airplanes on the ground with the propeller as much as possible. I properly fitted tow bar works fine for this. All of our damage occurs during installation or removal of the tow bar.
I agree there is no danger of damage to the engine, but not necessarily the propeller.
Hartzell recommends never pulling an airplane with the propeller.
The centripetal force exerted on the blades in flight is many orders of magnitude higher than the thrust / bending loads exerted on the blades which relieves the fwd bending load. When pulling on the ground, there is no relief.
If you have a fixed pitch prop then it probably doesn't matter.
I agree there is no danger of damage to the engine, but not necessarily the propeller.
Hartzell recommends never pulling an airplane with the propeller.
The centripetal force exerted on the blades in flight is many orders of magnitude higher than the thrust / bending loads exerted on the blades which relieves the fwd bending load. When pulling on the ground, there is no relief.
If you have a fixed pitch prop then it probably doesn't matter.
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Do yourself a favor and replace all the nuts and bolts on the tow bar with MS hardware. If you plan to use it a lot eventually the stock bolts/nuts will bend and fail on you. Otherwise it's a convenient, nicely engineered and a light thingy.
why bother
Just a wierd 9A owner here. I pull from the root of the blades and she goes easy. To back up, I walk around to the tail.... gently push down so the nose is in the air... sit on the horizontal. At this point I am facing backwards. There is very little pressure under me... since the plane is essentially balancing in landing attitude. No load to speak of on the horizontal. Then I just walk backwards to parking. Have not had my tow bar out in two years.
Just a wierd 9A owner here. I pull from the root of the blades and she goes easy. To back up, I walk around to the tail.... gently push down so the nose is in the air... sit on the horizontal. At this point I am facing backwards. There is very little pressure under me... since the plane is essentially balancing in landing attitude. No load to speak of on the horizontal. Then I just walk backwards to parking. Have not had my tow bar out in two years.
Wouldn't pulling the nose up, or yawing the plane into a slip, put large twisting loads on the hub due to the gyroscopic precession? My gut feel is that they'll be much greater than an owner pulling it by hand with his/her hand close to the spinner. Or maybe it's not, and this is just another reason to stick with a fixed pitch prop.
I've seen damaged wheel pants (and injured tailbones) due to a "tow" bar slipping off. I've never seen injuries on an airplane that was pushed/pulled by the prop.
agree, did the same.
