Well Cowdog and Maverick beat me to it:



Last night we put 31's on their Bearhawk and she is standing proud.

I guess you'll have to out-do them with 35''s

That looks great. Good to see some bearhawks getting big shoes!

robw56 wrote:I guess you'll have to out-do them with 35''s

Dang, this one-up-manship could get expensive. Now I have no choice; I better check with Wup first to make sure 43's aren't about to roll out the door.

What are we measuring? Thanks again, without blackrock = no bearhawk, lack of brain matter, and a general sense of self loathing.

Ours is bigger.

Dang it! I don't know how much longer I can resist the seductive powers of bushwheels. I can hear my wallet whimpering every time a picture like this is posted.

Just do it for the hot sauce!

She looks mighty fine. That's the first BH I've seen on bushwheels.

Maverick wrote:Just do it for the hot sauce!

Hot sauce is $4K, The BWs are free.

That's a proud looking bearhawk! I'm sure the owner is even more proud.

Nice - more photos please!

Any idea what difference those wheels make to the 3-point attitude angle of attack? The way the Bearhawk wants to climb really tailwheel low, I am thinking this will do great things to the takeoff performance with judicious use of the flaps.

Oregon180 wrote:Dang it! I don't know how much longer I can resist the seductive powers of bushwheels. I can hear my wallet whimpering every time a picture like this is posted.

Ya whimpering is right. Even If I were a multimillionaire Id still have trouble stomaching that price . To put things in perspective, for the same amount of money you could outfit your cockpit with a G696 AND a gtx327 Both highly engineered and sophisticated electronics, capable of doing a multitude of very useful tasks. They require large capitol infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and leave enough steps in the margin for jobbers and distributors to profit.
Tires by contrast have not really changed in the last 40 years, require much less infrastructure and less sophisticated compounds to manufacture, and are perishable items. But then again you can't strap a 696 and 327 to your gear and land on a gravel bar. Well you could, but the outcome would be disastrous .

Battson wrote:Nice - more photos please!

Any idea what difference those wheels make to the 3-point attitude angle of attack? The way the Bearhawk wants to climb really tailwheel low, I am thinking this will do great things to the takeoff performance with judicious use of the flaps.

Maverick had it out today but only made one takeoff/landing. We are planning to fly it tomorrow so we'll have a better idea then (maybe more pictures, and ok maybe some video, too). Like you, I think the extra AOA should improve TO/landing performance. Cowdog watched the takeoff and thought it got off earlier than normal and it had three people in it.

A typical takeoff is about 7 seconds and 300 feet or less so it is fairly short anyway.

Elko has too much snow now, but when it dries out, the gang plans to put stripes across a dirt runway at the Cowdog/Maverick ranch and have observers measure TO/landing distances mostly just for fun and practice, but that should give some numbers. There is a 500' strip nearby to try next, so practicing first is a good idea. This is going to be a fun one!

Short runway (URKZ):

Wow, very nice looking Bearhawk you got there! Those tires look a little too clean though.

exodus wrote:
Ya whimpering is right. Even If I were a multimillionaire Id still have trouble stomaching that price . To put things in perspective, for the same amount of money you could outfit your cockpit with a G696 AND a gtx327 Both highly engineered and sophisticated electronics, capable of doing a multitude of very useful tasks. They require large capitol infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and leave enough steps in the margin for jobbers and distributors to profit.
Tires by contrast have not really changed in the last 40 years, require much less infrastructure and less sophisticated compounds to manufacture, and are perishable items. But then again you can't strap a 696 and 327 to your gear and land on a gravel bar. Well you could, but the outcome would be disastrous .

Is that a joke or sarcasm?

I wouldn't trade my 35's for a truck load of 696's. Sure they are expensive, so what. Think about the fact that they are hand built in the USA in low quantity. Pretty sophisticated too, looked at a 40 year old tire lately?

My company recycles mining tires that cost $150,000+ EACH......

Your 696 will be obsolete tomorrow

Just my opinion. Worth what you paid I guess.....

UtahMaule wrote:

exodus wrote:
Ya whimpering is right. Even If I were a multimillionaire Id still have trouble stomaching that price . To put things in perspective, for the same amount of money you could outfit your cockpit with a G696 AND a gtx327 Both highly engineered and sophisticated electronics, capable of doing a multitude of very useful tasks. They require large capitol infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and leave enough steps in the margin for jobbers and distributors to profit.
Tires by contrast have not really changed in the last 40 years, require much less infrastructure and less sophisticated compounds to manufacture, and are perishable items. But then again you can't strap a 696 and 327 to your gear and land on a gravel bar. Well you could, but the outcome would be disastrous .

Is that a joke or sarcasm?

I wouldn't trade my 35's for a truck load of 696's. Sure they are expensive, so what. Think about the fact that they are hand built in the USA in low quantity. Pretty sophisticated too, looked at a 40 year old tire lately?

My company recycles mining tires that cost $150,000+ EACH......

Your 696 will be obsolete tomorrow

Just my opinion. Worth what you paid I guess.....

He hadn't been to AKB in Joseph, OR yet?? If he takes a tour of the shop and see firsthand how the tires are made, he might (hopefully) understand.

Not to bash you, Exodus! But talk to Wup and see the shop for yourself if you're near Joseph.

UtahMaule wrote:

exodus wrote:
Ya whimpering is right. Even If I were a multimillionaire Id still have trouble stomaching that price . To put things in perspective, for the same amount of money you could outfit your cockpit with a G696 AND a gtx327 Both highly engineered and sophisticated electronics, capable of doing a multitude of very useful tasks. They require large capitol infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and leave enough steps in the margin for jobbers and distributors to profit.
Tires by contrast have not really changed in the last 40 years, require much less infrastructure and less sophisticated compounds to manufacture, and are perishable items. But then again you can't strap a 696 and 327 to your gear and land on a gravel bar. Well you could, but the outcome would be disastrous .

Is that a joke or sarcasm?

I wouldn't trade my 35's for a truck load of 696's. Sure they are expensive, so what. Think about the fact that they are hand built in the USA in low quantity. Pretty sophisticated too, looked at a 40 year old tire lately?

My company recycles mining tires that cost $150,000+ EACH......

Your 696 will be obsolete tomorrow

Just my opinion. Worth what you paid I guess.....

+1

The Roverhawk ( Landrover powered Bearhawk) has been running the 29's since last august and they work great, allows for 5mph slower landing when coming in 3 point. 31's and 35's will probably improve on that.
Darcy did say the stall is a little different with the bigger tires, probably because of the extra weight and mabey a little extra drag.

blackrock wrote:...
Elko has too much snow now...

You know where to find a cure for that and I have no shortage of 300'-500' beaches, bars, and benches to warm up on

Get yours shoe'd up and bring 'ol Maverick on down with you

UtahMaule wrote:

exodus wrote:
Ya whimpering is right. Even If I were a multimillionaire Id still have trouble stomaching that price . To put things in perspective, for the same amount of money you could outfit your cockpit with a G696 AND a gtx327 Both highly engineered and sophisticated electronics, capable of doing a multitude of very useful tasks. They require large capitol infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and leave enough steps in the margin for jobbers and distributors to profit.
Tires by contrast have not really changed in the last 40 years, require much less infrastructure and less sophisticated compounds to manufacture, and are perishable items. But then again you can't strap a 696 and 327 to your gear and land on a gravel bar. Well you could, but the outcome would be disastrous .

Is that a joke or sarcasm?

I wouldn't trade my 35's for a truck load of 696's. Sure they are expensive, so what. Think about the fact that they are hand built in the USA in low quantity. Pretty sophisticated too, looked at a 40 year old tire lately?

My company recycles mining tires that cost $150,000+ EACH......

Your 696 will be obsolete tomorrow

Just my opinion. Worth what you paid I guess.....

No joke or sarcasm intended. Just a friendly discussion on the cost and value of aftermarket aircraft parts. We could be easily talking xponders, gps's or even easy flap handles.
Well I would certainly trade my bush wheels for truck load of 696's I'd then turn around and sell them on Ebay and use a small portion of the proceeds to buy a bigger set of BW's. They will remain a very functional unit for most of the aviation consumer for a long time yet. Just like the 396 still is.
Mining tires contain a hell of a lot of rubber and steel, exist in a full time abusive environment and require huge equipment to produce and handle, plus the customers that use them have a lot of money that rides in the back of the trucks that wear them. (yes there is a pun in there somewhere)
My point exactly, as you noted. No, I haven't seen any 40 y.o tires, They don't last anywhere near that long, but I have seen a lot of 40+ avionics and such that there owners have gotten good value out of the many years of service.

Please , rattling cages is not my intention. I'm just trying to iron out my own ignorance of the reality of surviving in a aviation related business these days and I appreciate some of the comments that help justify the price. When I hear many statements related to the price that say " don't think about it" "it's only money" "it's going to be painful" and a litany of others, for just what I and many others perceive is essentially a thick inner tube with a limited life span, expensive is an understatement. But then again I might have my head up my arse