We just bought a Cessna 182Q with Texas Skyways O-550. Trying to decide between the Airhawks or the 8.50s. Not planning any hardcore off-airport, but plan to visit backcountry strips in Idaho and Utah. Any opinions, thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.

I run 8.50s on my 206 with a 7.00 on the nose. I take it anywhere that most of the cubs/180s I fly with go. Going to 29s will add a lot of weight and cost you speed. 8.50 mains and 7/8.00 on the nose is a great setup IMO.

I have an airglas nose fork with an 8.00 and 8.50 mains on my 182. I thought about going bigger, but it just costs airspeed and you can get into 95% of Idaho on 8.50s. I know a guy who took a cessna 150 with 5.00 tires on all three into the hardest strips in idaho. Made me realize I am fine on 8.50's!

I can't think of a single runway in Idaho that you can't access on 8.50s. If it were me I'd decide which nose tire size you want then install the appropriate mains.

whee wrote:I can't think of a single runway in Idaho that you can't access on 8.50s. If it were me I'd decide which nose tire size you want then install the appropriate mains.

Yep, ditto. No way I'd put 29s on a 182. I've flown 206s on a lot of backcountry and some off airport with 8.50 mains and 8.00 nose tire. THat's the best combination in my experience

MTV

Flame suit on. I don't think anything bigger than 8:50s are ever needed for most developed strips. If you are doing Greg Miller gravel (boulder) bar exploration 35s are probably too small. I ran 8:50s for years, then went to 26 Goodyears for a bit more flotation in soft sand. When I look at photos of my dad on gravel bars in the 50s with 6:00s I feel like a poser. Maybe I'm just cheap, but realistically 90 % of my time is on pavement or mown grass. Shoes for the mission.

I recently have been contemplating upping my tire size from 8.5 X 6s to something bigger. 85% of my flying is on grass strips but I do enough paved landings to make the Bushwheels not a practical option. The 29 inch X 10 Airhawks are one option. I think they would cost a significant speed and weight penalty plus the expense of converting to 10 inch wheels. I also considered going with the 26 inch Goodyear Blimp tires but after reading through several threads on the subject it just seems like a pain in the ass to get the field approval and not really much of an improvement over the 8.5s. It also has some disadvantages regarding hard braking and tire slippage. Maybe an 8.5 X 10 is the answer but I think having the 8.5 X 6s keeps me a bit in check for some of the off airport stuff I do. I have landed on just about everything in Idaho other than the Bigcreek 4 with 8.5 X 6s - it does just fine. A bigger tire size might look cooler and open up a few spots for me but the 8.5 really is for practical purposes the best tire for my mission. Good luck finding a set right now. They are in supply chain scarcity right now.



Josh

I just got a pair of 8.50's from A/C Spruce waiting 6 weeks $400 each.

I'll be the voice of lunacy then.

Sure, you can do all these strips and even gravel bars with 8.50s or even 7.00s just fine. But the vibration and hard edge hits from bumps and dried elk prints in the mud or whatever...the airframe feels it. More than once it felt abusive to the aircraft...I felt like I was gonna pop a few rivets.

Rolling across roughish stuff with a slightly aired-down bigger tire is a great form of suspension.

There's definitely a happy medium. Big tires get heavy. I would agree that 8.50s are totally adequate for most prepared strips.

+1 Z. Clumpy grass is too rough on small tires.

8.50 x 10 4-ply with the 10x10 Bush Wheel. No glue in adapters that way. 8.00 or 8.50x6 on the nose. My 206 went 135kts on this setup, 138kts with the 7.00 main/6.00 nose. I think the 10” main streamlines the brake calipers, at least that’s one theory. Plus they look cool.