What are the opinions out there regarding the spring gear versions of the maule vs. the oleo gear? If the stars all align we are hoping to purchase an aircraft this year. A Maule may be in the running.

I am hoping to add my tailwheel endorsement soon. So I would be "low time" for sure. Does one hold advantange over the other?

Would I be better off (insurance wise, ease of finding as well as price) by just finding a nice nose wheel maule if I go that route?

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter...Happy New Year everyone.

Watch Big Rocks and Long Props and the virtues of a taildragger will soon become..not apparent, since you probably already know them, but more...necessary. These guys are operating with long props for max thrust on surfaces that, if they were in nosedraggers, would shred the prop given the reduced clearance. Being able to run the power up and get prop blast over the tail, then actually elevate the tail and slow taxi w/brakes on just the mains...wow(of course you need some extended gear too with the long prop.) And it can only be done with a tailwheel aircraft. For me, I've always thought they just look more elegant, and the extra skill involved makes for a welcome challenge(and unwelcome insurance premium, like you said.) But, it's just fun.

My understanding of spring gear vs oleo gear is that the oleos are a little more plush and dampened, but the spring material(bungees, etc) has to be replaced on occasion. The spring gear lasts forever but has a different compression curve. Can you buy a new Maule with oleo gear? It might be lighter than the spring gear too. It is also possible that I am just having a daydream. Somebody else chime in.

Z

One thing you do not like to here is repairs. I have repaired both types in ground loop wrecks. The oleo gear gives away and has less fuselage damage. The spring gear is like a strong knife and cuts and tears the hell out of tubing.I would'nt let this stop you from buying the best deal out there for you either it be spring or oleo gear.

One of the instructors here at O22 that has boo-coo tailwheel time tells me he thinks the oleo is the best gear going. Keep in mind this guy doesn't own a Maule and has only flown mine and maybe a couple others. He does own a Stearman that he flys daily. (Well maybe not when it's raining)

There is a pretty good bounce job on the Mauled DVD from the fly-in last year at Johnson Creek. It was spring gear.

The Doc that does our flight phyicals here in town has a Tri-Gear 180 Maule and he keeps saying once he gets enough time he is going to get a real He-Man Maule with the wheel on the correct end.

Mark

Hey N6EA
How does that old saying go? Jinks you posted the same exact time as I did now you owe me a beer?

Ditto what jmtgt sez about the tricycle gear Maule. The beauty police should have intervened. Also, one guy at our airport has had a pretty bad shimmy problem with his nosewheel. I'm not sure that it's a common problem on the tri-gear, but that guy has had the cowl off quite a few times. Looks like you can't get away from tailwheel shimmy just by swapping which end you stick the third wheel on.

I have the spring gear. I did about 10 hours in an oleo geared plane and as jmtgt said, it seemed to be a bit cushier landing but so many other things were different between that plane and mine that I couldn't be positive it was all oleo vs spring gear related. I suspect either one of them will put you back in the sky if you don't have the speed and angle right at touchdown. I do know that the spring gear is nearly 8 ft wide (on the t/w models) and if you are taxiing in a strong crosswind, it will take less downwind brake force to keep you going straight. They say the oleo gear will fit nicely into pickup truck tracks. Can't remember the last time I did that, but it could be important to some folks. Weight is always important and, yeah, the spring gear is about 50 lbs heavier than the oleos, but it looks better IMHO, and looks like it could be used as part of a building or a bridge.

Like most airplanes, you have to take the collection of bits and learn how to use them all together to do what you want. You won't regret the Maule.

I opted for the 3600 lb. 185 main gear with an XP mod 1.125 tail spring. Also the Pponk inner and outer gear box brackets and beef up kit. I did not get the locking TW cuz it was another 1500 bucks and I only needed it a couple times so far. Once in Reno I overheated the right brake so she just weathervaned and there was nothing I could do about it. I called ground and splained my problem and sat there blocking charlie for about 20 minutes. Another time in Veracruz it was blowing so hard I couldn't turn to taxi so I did an extreme short field take off and airborne we were going backwards over the ground. I saw a 185 that was groundlooped at Nervino with the Pponks and it shredded the fuse on the left side. I heard it was over 50g's to fix. If it didn't have the Pponks the damage would have been less.

Cessna spring gear as you know was made by Boeing, and it shows sometimes when your timing's off a bit when trying to land (boing, boing,boing...). Oleo- and bungee-gear airplanes have seemed more forgiving, the little bit that I've flown them.
I see that a popular retrofit for Avids and Kitfoxes is changing to spring aluminum gear. Less maintenance for sure, less drag,not sure about the weight issue.
I wouldn't sweat the suspension, just concentrate on buying a good solid airplane. I suspect that there are more oleo-geared Maules out there for sale. Whatever you do, get a tailwheel model: "friends don't let friends fly nosedraggers".

Eric

Dave, what is the deal with that 206 with the belly pod?

I had originally posted this at MauleMods.com but thought it might be of use here. "I thought I would relate an interesting story about The State of California vs Maule Aircraft. I was told by a fairly reliable source (the guy is a retired aviation attorney, draw your own conclusions) that he once represented the State of Ca. in a lawsuit over the "collapse" of landing gear on a number of Maules the Highway Patrol was using for speed patrol years ago. They brought suit against Maule contending manufacturer defect or failure in design or whatever. Interesting part was Maule was self insured and the only person to show up was the ol' man himself. No attorney, no paralegal, no secretary, etc. He stayed at a motel six the night before and answered all the questions posed to him without refering to notes, drawings or calculations. He told the jury that the gear was designed to be the weak link and when pancaked it would collapse and thus prevented major fuselage damage. He also stated that if the pilots would learn to land the Maules correctly they would not have a problem. Evidently Mr. Maule could be quite charming as well as convincing and defended the company without a problem and won the case hands down. The attorney quizzed Mr. Maule after the trial and B.D. told him that although he had been sued a few times he had never lost and had never hired an attorney. The next time another client wanted to sue Maule the attorney in question flat told his client to forget it, they would lose.

I'm sure Jeremy or ? has heard the story before and could probably fill in the blanks or correct any descrepencies but that's how the story was related to me...

At any rate the ol' man sure sounded like a character."

I was searching my hard drives for pix and found it titled "why I converted to tailwheel". No idea where it came from.....

Maule-mods had a big discussion about oleo vs spring gers a couple weeks ago. Lots of good info from people who know, like Greg, and Jeremy.
Good luck
Jeff

Thanks for all the good info guys. I know insurance has been talked before, but in a nutshell, if I make a purchase of a maule (or cub, husky, scout, 180ish, ect) and my only tailwheel time is that to obtain the endorsement and checkout in my new "ride" will I be insurable? (300 and change TT, SEL-SES, HP, and Complex endorsements (40-50hrs in such))

It's gonna hurt.
An anomally in the insurance mess is a PA-22/20. Most of the companies consider it a PA-22 (Tri-Pacer) and the rate is very reasonable. The downside is that the 22/20 is a bit sporty on the ground. Great plane though. It's like a poormans 180, or better yet Maule
Jeff

The other item that helps, no matter what your insuring, is an instrument rating. Not sure how an IFR ticket helps you land a taildragger loaded to gross at a 10k density altitude airstrip with a 25kt crosswind, but the underwriters are certainly fond of that rating.

Mark

Wow, so many interesting and fur fluffing topics in one post, someone should get an efficiency award!
Spring and Oleo: Spring gear looks sexy as all get out. and it is until it breaks or you're trying a full stall landing. You know, bring it in steep and slow and plant it hard. The Oleo's will be your friend. The spring gear will try to relaunch you. When they break, I think the spring gear will cost. Maule is currently reworking the attachment system. For reasons I don't think I need to go into here. In terms of a "safe" gear regarding failure, the only thing I have seen is Atlee Dodge's safety cables for the bungee system. Having flown bungee's, spring and Oleo's, I think I would stick with the Oleo's for the broader appeal and application.
Insurance: Your @#$%^&*'d, sorry, no pleasant way to put it. I will be giving up my Insurance next year due to neccisity of cost. It is back down to $1348 annually. If I were to keep it and hangar it, it will be about $4500. Oh baby! Jeremy may be a good source of Insurance companies. I had a good conversation with Johan the other night and he was saying that there have been a couple notable Maule wrecks lately and that those of us with that type will be paying shortly.

@%@# %&^*$%&5 *$@$44 #$^$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!

Kurt,

If you don't mind me asking, what hull value do you have on ol' yeller? I've got 50k on my M4 and am considering just dropping it all together and going with just pl/pd.

Mark