Hello Backcountry frieds,

One and half year ago I bought 26" Ultralight Bushwheel (Airframe alaska)
No I find lot of damaged/cracked on both tires. (see atached files). Somewhere you can see red, underlying fabric.

Both tire are 1,5 year old. Plane stay in hangar. We fly aprox. 30-40h per year with this plane and we use 99% grass / earthen surface (no asphalt). We use pressure aprox 0,6-0,7 bar = >aprox 8,5 – 10 psi

I know, that is In my opinion, degradation of tire surface is too fast. It´s look like 10-15 years old. I have a comparison with other tires and I have never seen this. ( I have been flying for 20 years with 7000 hours on airplane)

What is your opinion? Do you have same or similar experiences?

Thanks!

Have you contacted the company yet?

In my experience, they have very good customer support.

That should be first step.

MTV

They can do what you have experienced. Some get worse sooner than others. There's no excuse with today's manufacturing process to have that happen, but the company's explanation and help may be beneficial. Give them an opportunity to reply.

Some cover the tires when outdoors. Indoors there are things described int this document that can make their rubber products deteriorate: http://www.airframesalaska.com/v/vspfil ... CA-AML.pdf

Contact the manufacturer and ask for an explanation and relief. In the meantime in my opinion for the expense involved there's no reason it should happen. Billions of automotive tires are proof it can be avoided.

Please share with us their response.

Gary

If I'm not mistaken, these tires are sensitive to UV light, and storing the airplane outside in the sun will do this to the tires.

Wup told me to use this stuff a few years ago, even for hangared aircraft:

https://amzn.to/2Retr0o

That 303 Protectant has been around for a long time. It was used by rubber boat manufacturers like Zodiac and Metzeler to prolong their life. I used it on an older set of Bushwheels but they finally cracked.

My current 26" Airstreaks didn't last a year before cracking...first noticed on the bottom where they contacted grass and dirt. Now it's spread over the remainder of the carcass.

The manufacturer must have a valid reason for the problem not being corrected during build-up. They told me to cover them and I told them for $2000 they could cover them with a warranty like any other quality tire manufacturer.

If decades old Goodyear 25x11x4" can hold up then it begs the question about the rubber and manufacturing techniques used for their replacement from Airframes.

I had the current 26" Goodyear "Blimp" tires for a few years and they never showed signs of weathering. Something's not right about this issue but so far they're the main game in town.

Gary

PA1195 wrote:That 303 Protectant has been around for a long time. It was used by rubber boat manufacturers like Zodiac and Metzeler to prolong their life. I used it on an older set of Bushwheels but they finally cracked.

My current 26" Airstreaks didn't last a year before cracking...first noticed on the bottom where they contacted grass and dirt. Now it's spread over the remainder of the carcass.

The manufacturer must have a valid reason for the problem not being corrected during build-up. They told me to cover them and I told them for $2000 they could cover them with a warranty like any other quality tire manufacturer.

If decades old Goodyear 25x11x4" can hold up then it begs the question about the rubber and manufacturing techniques used for their replacement from Airframes.

I had the current 26" Goodyear "Blimp" tires for a few years and they never showed signs of weathering. Something's not right about this issue but so far they're the main game in town.

Gary

Well, I think it's a trade-off.

Tires in both the automotive world and aviation that are high performance tend to have more desirable characteristics, but they don't last as long.
Your high performance auto tire is soft rubber, and is really sticky.
Your high performance bush tire is soft and stretchy, so it can mold itself to the terrain and absorb bumps.

Your "high mileage" auto and aviation tires tend to be a harder compound of rubber and tend to be stiff and noisy, but, they last a long time.

I think it all comes down to the chemistry / materials of the tires.

Yes it may a trade off of durability and longevity versus flex. My comments don't need repeating. I feel the customer should simply be advised that their product may not be representative of other aircraft tires. Then let us make a choice up front of spending thousands with the caveat that special ICA's must be adhered to or else.

Landing or turning on pavement is not conducive to their tire life and so on. I guess if you need them to land on debris fields then the periodic cost of expensive replacement or field repairs via spray-on bedliner material as some owners recommend is worth their ownership.

I bought them to land on ice and soft snow in the Spring before lakes melt. I now realize I should have kept my Goodyear 26" tires for that application or sourced some similar from Desser.

Gary

This happened to a friend of mine, he had 29's. Very little pavement use with no tight turns and only a few years old. Big crack opened up width wise from sidewall to sidewall. When he called and emailed pictures they seemed to not care, they were of the attitude of "oh sorry, bummer". We were amazed at the lack of concern or explanation other than "hmmm, interesting" thats about all they had to say. They did offer him $100 off a replacement tire if he was interested. I was shocked at their response, I did not expect that out of them. He is running 8:50's now.

Several years now (I'm too lazy to see if I logged putting them on, 5 would be my best guess, or maybe 7 or 8, time flies when you're having fun) on my 29 " Airstreaks. NO cracks. Very little pavement use, 200+- hrs. a year flying, kept hangared. There may be some other kind of enviro effect going on, like heavy pollution? I don't use anything on them except herculiner bed liner now and then, but not on the side walls. Average pressure has been below the recommended 6 lbs., 3 to 4 or 5 lbs. I have gotten my money's worth out of these and will buy another pair in a heartbeat, as there is nothing like them for off airport.

I had a set of Airstreaks (different tires, but presumably similar chemistry) on a PA 11 for almost five years, no cracks of any kind. In fact, other than some wear on the "patch" that runs on the surface, they looked new. Those tires had ~ 300 to 400 hours on them.

MTV

PA1195 wrote:My current 26" Airstreaks didn't last a year before cracking...first noticed on the bottom where they contacted grass and dirt. Now it's spread over the remainder of the carcass.

The manufacturer must have a valid reason for the problem not being corrected during build-up. They told me to cover them and I told them for $2000 they could cover them with a warranty like any other quality tire manufacturer.

If that's actually the case, they would have covered them. They have a 1 year warranty and I've personally had a set replaced for that exact reason.

I do agree that there has to be a solution for UV protection other than 303 and covers.

I waited beyond the 1 year period as part of the time they were stored in my outdoor shed while I was on floats and five months later the time had passed. I did not use 303 or cover the tires when installed.

I suspect they have addressed the rubber cracking through production changes as all reputable companies do. Time flys and production dates versus sales and installation can cover an extended period. They are a good company and I've not been disappointed with other products purchased from them.

But for my needs I'd not spend the money for another Airframes experiment only to find pavement, turning, and weather were potential enemies. There are other options from Desser that would fulfill the role.

As to the Thread originator...contact them and seek a remedy if possible. They may know enough about your production date/serial numbers to help.

MTV: Were yours in a hangar with the 11?

Gary

Hi,

Thanks for your fast reaction. Yesterday I contacted the manufacturer. They answered me in few hours and they are interested in the problem. They asked me for more detailed information / data.

I'm going to send this info today or tomorrow. I'll let you know when I get some news

I have a pair of 26' Airstreaks, 6yrs old and 1500hrs and am based at a towered asphalt airport, I'm starting to wonder if they will eventually die of old age and if so how will I know when it's time? They have some small cracks in the sidewalls but seem fine, don't leak.

The OP is talking about the newer "ultralight" tire. Made for only LSA weight aircraft, it is made much lighter. They just came out last year so there isn't much of a track record yet. When they did come out, I really, really wanted for my Savage Cub. I don't know what to think yet but I do appreciate Alaska Bushwheel for trying to make a lighter tire for us light weights. As with all new things, there may be a gestation period for a new product to get up to snuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1C7SYtFhlA
From 2:15 to 3:15 the owner had some issues as well.

Here's some further information available from the manufacturer of Alaskan Bushwheels on maintenance and used tips and history beyond the ICA document included at purchase. It's a recent add to their website I believe.

Maintenance: http://www.airframesalaska.com/v/vspfil ... 20Tips.pdf

Tips and history: http://www.airframesalaska.com/v/vspfil ... cklist.pdf

Gary

.

Savage, that seems kinda fast to have weather checking that bad, usually takes about 3 years for mine to get to that point. As an aside, I think your post seems cordial and valid.

Owned 7 sets of bushwheels, only one set failed from wearing into the chord after 800 hours. 5 sets failed from weather checking, the other set is brand new and are on the wagon now. These have all been 29 and 31's, I will continue to use them, unless something better comes along. Average about 700 hours per set of tires on the wagon iirc, and longer on the cub.

ABW are fantastic tires, but severe weather checking has been the biggest weak link in my experience. I primarily operate in the Chihuahuan desert, so despite routine application of 303 and mostly keeping them in the shade, the tires just get eaten up by the dry air. This go round, I sprung for the $200 covers they sell, which fit great and stow nicely in the small stuff sack they come with.

Also, bought new ABW 6-bolt wheels to replace the Clevelands, couldn't be happier with them!

I would like to share my experience with customer support of tire manufacturer - Airframe alaska.

Communication with the European dealer was without success.

But approach and response of US headquarters was absolutely different. They responded within a few hours and were very interested in my problem. I sent them all the information about the tire, photos and the operation spectrum and during one or two day I received info, that this issue is covered by a warranty and they send me new tires.

I have to praise the professionalism of the US airframe alaska team!