We have a 182j that is pretty much stock. Would like to transform it into a backcountry machine without breaking the bank. Options include either a sportsman Leading edge or Horton and of course bigger tires.
I have searched for an STC for 26" good years (already have these) but can not find one. Has anyone gotten a field approval? What are the options for the heavy duty fork?


Any suggestions or comments are welcome

Here we go again...........

There’s been a lot of discussion about this. The easiest I believe is to purchase the Landis nose fork kit and it will come with an STC for the tires you already have. But you may have to get an 850 for the fork unless you get a field approval.

There are a few threads in here covering all of this.
http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2109

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6641

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6746

Good luck.

Your looking for one like this??

Here is a good link with photos...this is my old bird. Sold it 4-5 years ago to a guy in Tennessee. Maybe someone has seen it?




http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=545

It sure was a great airplane. Got her with basically nothing but bee hives and put a lot of $$ into her.

AKT

Forget the Horton and get a sportsman! I've heard of several people removing their Horton to put on a sportsman but never the other way around. I have a sportsman stol kit on my 170 and I love it.

That's what I want my 182 to look like! Very cool. What was your stall speed or more specifically what was your approach speed on short final?

Just thought this was befitting of the thread title:

Aktahoe did you change your prop or stay stock. I have the original Macaulay.

PS I have not seen your plane around but will keep an eye out for it. We visit many airports around central TN.

Mine's a j model and I've run bigger tires on the mains before. I don't go into super rough places with it but it handles moderate stuff well with or without the bigger tires if I plan ahead a little. I carry a little 12 volt compresser with me to regulate the tire pressure and front strut. If I'm leaving long asphalt and landing somewhere rough, I'll sponge them out before I leave. Holding the nose off as long as possible and stalling right at touchdown is the most important for mine, it would be nice to have the big front nose wheel, I'd go with the Landis. If I get a jolt, it's usually the front strut bottoming out, not a main so I've put stockers back on. Mines got the firewall reinforcement too, I don't know if it's important but someone thought it was.

Denalipilot. Nice! Or should I say awesome! I have always enjoyed flying the 182 but it has become a hanger queen after we bought a supercub. But all our flying buddies have sold their cubs and bought 180's. since we already have a 182 it seems like the right thing to do to keep up. I love off airport backcountry flying and camping and you can't beat the 182 for comfort (vs cub) especially over any distance.

I could have sworn that something in the Landis fork STC calls for all 3 tires being the same size??

Could be wrong again
EB

Emory Bored wrote:I could have sworn that something in the Landis fork STC calls for all 3 tires being the same size??

Could be wrong again
EB

We're going to start this again?

The STC I have requires an 850 on the fork and at least 850's on the mains. I believe the STC is good for up to 31's on the mains, but I could be wrong (31 sounds right for some reason. But I've been known to be wrong before)

I believe you can get field approvals for different size tires on the fork.

I took the easy route and stuck with 850's all around.

I never saw any paperwork for my ghetto setup, part of why I removed them. It did work OK though if you jacked the strut up to level it out. The dozens of little vg's with no paperwork didn't work so well, they were removed just prior to my taking possession and after collecting juniper bushes in the elevator in Mexico."Nothing short of terrifying" was how one flight instructor described it's slow flight charactoristics with the vg's on.