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RV-6 Bush Plane

sheepdog

Active Member
I put some big tires on the -6 for playing in the dirt and snow..

8.50x600 on Matco wheels.

Ken Asbe KMCW


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Good deal

Looks great . Just what I need for my short strip. Where did you get the tire/wheels, and what kind of cost?
Thanks for posting!
Cj
 
Bush wheels

Matco W60 wheels internal brakes Aircraft Spruce shows 463.00, Tires were wore out skins, sent them to desser 220.00 both, I needed two 1/4 inch spacers per side, stock nuts, two 16 inch stainless flexible brake lines 16.00 for both

I have done bean fields, all the grass fields in 40 miles, ruts and even b25 flyer said it really looks good but too slow for him. I'm going to play in the snow tomorrow, just waiting for the ice to get thick enough on Clear Lake
Vg,s next then skis?
 
Bush wheels

Matco w60 wheels, tail wheel flyboys, not stock vans fork
Been in the bean fields, hayfields, grass fields within 40 miles
Tomorrow, snow and when ice is safe, the area lakes
 
So...how slow is it?

Just curious what your indicated airspeed in a normal cruise setup? BTW... this is a really cool setup you have. My wife and I just came back from anchorage last month and was really wishing I had my 182 again. There are soooo many airplanes setup for bush landings.
 
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Hi Ken,

Are those gear legs custom made? the Axle has to be longer to adopt Matco W60 wheels, am I right?
 
Big wheels

The wheels are Matco W60 , the brake rotor attaches to the rim with three Allen
Screws. The caliper runs on the inside portion of the rotor and attaches to the
Rim at max diameter. The bearings are for a 1.25 axel and 1420 pounds per
Wheel.
I flew to HYS and appeared to be approx 5kts slower compared to no wheelpant 500-5. But still cross country at 160 kts But the landing opportunities now are endless. The 500-5 only came to the top of the rim.
I broke the last wheelpant when I taxied into a cone, so I have been without
For quite awhile . I live near KMCW and with all the farm fields around the landing opportunities are endless and it looks good
I Just Gotta Be Different
 
Sheepdog I'm curious to hear about your cowling. Is there a special something under the hood requiring such modification to the cowling? Love seeing yet another thing these RVs can do! Cool!!



Bill
 
Have you noticed whether you can get any slower in 3 point landings?

That looks to me like it would be a yes. The -6 will definitely land tail wheel first with ease, and is still solidly flying when it does. This one is now sitting much taller in the front, the only question is - how much slower?

Very cool!
 
The wheels are Matco W60 , the brake rotor attaches to the rim with three Allen
Screws. The caliper runs on the inside portion of the rotor and attaches to the
Rim at max diameter. The bearings are for a 1.25 axel and 1420 pounds per
Wheel.

Using Van's stock gear legs?
 
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Bush 6

Stock gear legs, total loss of speed 15 mph from faired 5 mph from stock wheel hanging in the wind.
What is lurking under the cowl is an IO-320 b1A converted to a D1A
Updraft pan with bendix fuel injection which dropped the filter assembly, I then used a shampoo bottle Some spray foam and fiberglass --- see Kevin Ross article over 200mph on 160 hp. See second issue 2000 rvator
I run 2700 rpm cross country with a Warnke 68/68
I have to be different.
I have a friend with a Titan tornado and am usually off in approx the same distance.
Wheel pants --- gunna look like a gee-bee
 
Bearing spacing

I struggled with cleavelands.then found out the Matco's bearing spacing was 2.5
Which is narrower than stock wheels. I had to add washers to get stock width
Installing the tires onto the rims were a challenge, I used fiber glasses reinforced tape to bring the beads together, then assembled the wheel halfs released the tape pulled the strips out and no pinched tubes. An added bonus, Matco makes a 5 inch wheel which uses the same brake assembly,
We average winds in the 17 mph range in north central Iowa, Wind turbine country, so most of the time 3 points are very short, no wind vans specs are pretty close, and running 10 pounds in the tires and plenty of practice in the grass, running out of energy in a low flare, landings are real short.
Ken
 
Tail wheel and vgs

I used a JD tail wheel fork, the reason to give the most amount of tire
exposed and the least amount of steel to catch on snags. The switch was painless.

I received Vortex generators from ATS through Larry Vetterman
His last set for the RV-6

Wheel Pants ? A friend John Baker who designed my original Wheelpants
Gave me a preliminary design -It's Big! A 21 inch tall tire the pant needs a length of 4 feet, On a side note the big raindrop could be made retractable

I'll let you know.
 
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