Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
Well, I had to get out the fiberglass stuff this morning to fix a wheel pant. I guess I was a little too timid in trimming the wheel/tire opening (or too agressive in trying to keep the gap small - depends on your point of view ;) ), and the tire either grabbed the rear of the opening on landing, or threw something into it, cracking off a chunk about an inch deep and two inches wide. I just put all the pieces back in place, did some sanding, and filing, and glassed a patch on the inside. Tonight I'll fix the outside surface, sand, prime, and voila - it'll be like it never happened. :D

Oh...And I'll open up those clearances! :rolleyes:

Question I haven't seen answered before - what kind of tire pressures do people run in their taildragger RV's? I can't help but think that my tires look a little flat, but I've already got more than the instruction manual's 25 psi (or maybe I interpretted that wrong). Sure looks too low - what is considered the maximum pressure for our tires? :confused:

Paul
 
I always ran about 32 to 33 PSI on my RV6. That worked a lot better than lower pressures which caused more tire wear. You'll also notice better accelleration on takeoff due to less tire resistence.
 
Tire Pressure

Hi Paul,
There are calculations of aircraft weight and tire size to determine the pressure
for the tire but I find that I try to keep 30 to 33 PSI (which works for me) which doesnt last very long because the aircraft rubber tends leak over time maybe 1 to 2 pounds a
week, even more when it gets cold.
Also congratulations on your first flight! Iv been flying an RV-4 for 15 years and by this time next year I to will been in a new RV-8.

Adam
RV-8 Finnish
 
Well, I had to get out the fiberglass stuff this morning to fix a wheel pant.
Click to expand...

LOL. I had the exact same experience at about 50 hours, during my first takeoff from a grass field. I wasn't aware I had a problem until I rolled into the hangar after landing. The repair is indeed invisble.

I also had tire pressure in the mid 20s but increased it on the suggestion of my hangarmate who has over 300 hours on his RV-8. I'm currently running 32 psi and haven't had any more issues.

BTW, I really like your paint scheme :)


James Freeman
 
[wheel pant repair]

Been there <g>.

Paul, welcome to the 'widened the wheel pant hole' club!

I'm running 30-32 pounds and using Michelin leak stopper tubes. My tires stay at 32 for literally months at a time with no need to add air. It's spooky they hold air so good.

B,
D
 
I run 35 PSI in the mains on my -6. The lower pressures are sometimes recommended to prevent gear shimmy, but if that is not a problem (I suspect it is not with the -8 gear) then no reason to run with low pressure. Also, as others have said, get Michelin Air Stop tubes. No excuse to use anything else, as they are only a couple bucks more than the cheaper tubes.
 
P.S.- I like the paint scheme too. Seems to be a popular one lately.

inflightjpg0lu.jpg
 
Whew!!

Glad I'm not the only one who "snuck" my pressures up to a little over 30!

I always ran more pressure in my AA1 tires than the manual said as well- so I think 32-35 is going to be the number. I'm goign to put in the leakstop tubes first time I have to split the wheels, based on the rave reviews I've heard.

And the wheel pant is all fixed up - with wider holes! As I've said before, I both love and hate fiberglass....

We probably need to have a special parking area at all fly-in events for the silver and gray air force - whataya think ?!


Paul
 
Ironflight said:
We probably need to have a special parking area at all fly-in events for the silver and gray air force - whataya think ?!Paul
Click to expand...

I'll check with the guy in charge of RV parking at Oshkosh and see what I can arrange...
 
I run mine high too

The only fairing problem I had was with the nose wheel when it went into wild oscillations as the breakout force went low when the assembly "settled in". I was able to fix mine by simply removing the damaged edges and blending everything in. Think how much worse it would have been if you had put your "show" pain job on before the first flight. I had two or three such "thank goodness it isn't painted yet" experiences. My tires are filled to 40 PSI for a couple of reasons, 1) they work just fine this way and 2) I can go more than 2 weeks without absolutely having to pull the fairings and reinflate them. Yeah, I'm gonna get the good tubes too.

Bob Axsom
 
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