OK- this site has cost me a ton of money I just finished the upgrade- new airglass nose fork, 850's on the mains and 800 on the nose. I have not even had a chance to fly it yet. Another bonus is, it increased my prop clearance by 50%

Looks great!

Very nice looking!!

Looks great. You're gonna love it! You've really got good prop clearance with the big fork/tire and the three blade. Good job.

I ran this setup on a 206 for several years, and to me it's nearly the perfect compromise for tires on this kind of airplane.

You might also want to find a short piece of heavy wall hose, split it lengthwise and wrap it around the bottom of your nose strut. Clamp it in place with a couple hose clamps. In the event your nose strut goes flat, that piece of hose will keep the strut from bottoming out.

Then go fly it....and enjoy

MTV

MTV- Can you post or send me a photo of what that looked like on your nose strut. I understand the concept and it makes sense but I am a visual guy. Thanks

Very nice! You must have been a good boy this year! What did the wife get???

DBI wrote:MTV- Can you post or send me a photo of what that looked like on your nose strut. I understand the concept and it makes sense but I am a visual guy. Thanks

Most guys use about 2" of automotive radiator hose mounted to the bottom of the extending tube where it meets the nose fork. The primary reason is to maintain minimum prop clearance in the event of a flat strut. The hose on my old plane was held tight with zip ties but I've seen some with worm clamps. In my case I had a Hawk XP with an 80" seaplane prop. That prop wasn't approved on tires so I had to get a field approval and the hose was part of the minimum prop clearance solution. We had to deflate the strut to demonstrate prop clearance for the field inspector and even then he was reluctant. If you don't have a potential prop clearance issue there's no reason to add the hose and since it'll promote corrosion there's good reason not to. Unless you added a long prop recently you shouldn't have a problem.

Grasspilot- She gets to go with me in the Idaho Backcountry Really, she would like that better than jewlery. I know, I am a lucky guy

Stewart- Thanks for the info. I have included a photo of the old 500 vs. 800 tire.

Looks like you picked your gal up at the same place I got mine then. Yes, we are lucky indeed!

A friend of mine wanted to buy an aircraft. His wife mandated that if he got the plane, she got a boob job. Seems to me he came out ahead on both accounts!