Stoked on this.

Zzz wrote:Stoked on this.

Yeah, they really make a noticeable difference and I haven't even figured out the best adjustments yet. I think I need a lesson from Phil.

Its been a little while since I posted an update on the T3 tail wheel suspension. Mostly the weather and snow pack keep me grounded although the suspension worked well on the Death Valley trip, I really didn't take into places all that rough. However, I was very heavy flying with full camping gear and two of us on board. With respect to camping gear, I didn't go light. A box of firewood, 2 aluminum dutch ovens, a fire pan, two tables, chairs, 2 tents, cooler, you get the idea. The T3 with air shocks handled it all very well. We were about 100lbs under gross with 50 gallons on board when we left Elko and an hour and 45 min later leaving Tonopah, so I landed at the chicken strip with about 43 gallons on board or about 150 lbs under gross landing weight.

The other half of the gear is still in the plane:


On day 2 we landed at Stovepipe Wells, Furnace Creek, and back at the CS lightly loaded with minimal gear. However on Day 2 we went to Panamint Springs, and Ballarat with all the gear, less fire wood. With a normal leaf spring, I always feel the tail on the ground with the attendant hops, skips, and bounces, but with the suspension, I rarely feel the tail while on the ground, it just sucks up the bumps.

Chicken Strip:


After getting back, I've been doing some regular maintenance on the plane. Dan Dufault, the T3 designer asked if I wanted to try some coil over shocks. The air shocks were working well, but I'll never know if there is something better without trying them out so they went on not long after they arrived. Maverick came over today and adjusted them for me since he is a former pro bike racer and understands how to set these up better than I ever will. Of course we had to take it out for a quick test flight so we did. I could tell right away that they are going to perform well and with a loaded Bearhawk, they may be a better option, but the jury is still out. They'll be on for the up coming Baja trip so I'll get to test them out then, again fairly heavy since there will be 3 on board plus gear.

Panamint Springs:


I'll report back after the trip although I won't be making any off field landings in Mexico, but maybe we can find some strips that are on the rough side of the scale. I'm really liking they way this suspension rides, now I need to try it out with both the air shocks and coil overs, lightly loaded and out in our normal play grounds. Too much snow for awhile yet.

Since this is the first Bearhawk install, Dan has been working with me to get all the fine tuning done so this should just be a bolt-on for other Bearhawks once we get the finer points of some of the geometries dialed in, mostly relating to TW steering. Dan has been absolutely fantastic to work with and Maverick and I have been having a ball trying things out. I've included some pictures below to show the difference between the air shocks and coil overs. We are still working out some details on the steering so parts of that are installed, but until we try another steering arm on the rudder, TW steering is on hold pending a new arm shape that Dan shipped today.

Air Shocks:


Coil Over:


Coil Overs Installed:

That's awesome... I think the coil overs will be much more resilient in the dirt and sand than the often delicate seals in the air shocks.

Nice work on this Mike, thanks for being the tester. That will be my next upgrade.

Great product report blackrock , and looks like a great trip. I'll have to come out to that area one winter.

Those coil overs are awesome. I'm not at all interested in running air shocks but as long as the coil overs don't weigh too much then I'd be all over that. Good work Mike!

Thanks for the comments. The coil overs certainly look more stout and Maverick has been telling me for sometime they are the way to go. Both the air shocks and coil overs ride nice so time will tell regarding durability.

A friend stopped by a few days ago when I was experimenting with shock pressures. I guess he figured I couldn't carry my nitrogen tanks, regulator and hose around in the back of the SQ2 cause he reappeared a day later with this.



Very cool, weighs about the same as the bicycle hand pump I carry around for the tires which now gets replaced with this high pressure pump.

I can use this pump on both the T3 and on the TK 1 Racing Front Shocks, at no additional weight or storage penalty.

Very cool! How much difference do you notice with change in pressures? How wide of a pressure range have you played with? That setup is pretty slick.

CamTom12 wrote:Very cool! How much difference do you notice with change in pressures? How wide of a pressure range have you played with? That setup is pretty slick.

In the T3 Tailwheel Suspension the pressure difference is very noticeable, in part because of the shock chamber sizes and in part because there is not much weight at the tail. I ended up with 120psi in the main chambers and 40psi in the negative chamber. That gave me the best compromise between tail height and shock travel.

Here is a version for the lighter planes. It's still in development. I took it for a spin yesterday and Dan is going to send back refinements next week. I don't know a lot about it all, but it sure is gentle on the plane.

That fox air shock probably sees the same abuse in a single ride on my mountain bike as it would see in an entire season of bush flying. I wouldn't worry too much about durability.

Hoeschen wrote:That fox air shock probably sees the same abuse in a single ride on my mountain bike as it would see in an entire season of bush flying. I wouldn't worry too much about durability.

^this. My sled has them and they take an absolute beating. Haven't had any issues with them yet.

A1Skinner wrote:

Hoeschen wrote:That fox air shock probably sees the same abuse in a single ride on my mountain bike as it would see in an entire season of bush flying. I wouldn't worry too much about durability.

^this. My sled has them and they take an absolute beating. Haven't had any issues with them yet.

The guys in my sledding group would say the opposite. Most of them have ditched their Floats because they got tired of them blowing out and ruining a day of riding.

EDIT: I need to clarify. Floats are a great shock when protected from impacts that could damage the shock tube. The issue when running them on the skis of a snowmobile is the same issue I would be concerned about on the TW of an aircraft. Put one little ding in the tube and the shock goes flat. Landing on gravel kicks up a bunch of rocks that could damage the shock tube. Chances are small that both shocks would get damaged at the same time but it would sure be a bad day if it happened.

I got a Fox Float on my full suspension mountain bike - 10 years of hard riding and still hasn't been rebuilt. Working great. I'm sure on an aircraft it won't see nearly as much abuse - and you will have a better maintenance plan than people riding sleds and bikes. My $0.02.

When can we get one for certified planes? lol

Those are valid points and of course apply to any seal running over a polished/smooth surface. I ran the dual set of air shocks for a about a month and was happy with their performance; they were on for the Chicken Strip/Death Valley/Panamint Springs/Ballarat trip and and handled gross load weights well.. Dan asked if I'd try some coil overs and those are on now, and were for the Baja trip. I've been very happy with their performance too. I'll write a better update once I have a chance to get some off airport time with them. That might happen this week end.

To protect the shocks, I've wrapped them with Lizard Skins http://shop.lizardskins.com/collections/all/products/rear-suspension-boot which are thin neoprene and have worked well for protection from minor gravel dings, etc.

Most of the landings on the Baja trip were made with heavy loads (several near gross landing weight), about a dozen landings were on dirt/gravel surfaces. I'm very happy with the T3 performance. It provides a much smoother ground roll and insulates the air frame from the harsher leaf spring jolts. I had enough confidence in it to take it on a 2,000 mile trip, half of which was in Baja where any mechanical issues would have been a real challenge to address.

BR

Field repairs are not hard. Carry spares.

wyomingiswindy wrote:Here is a version for the lighter planes. It's still in development. I took it for a spin yesterday and Dan is going to send back refinements next week. I don't know a lot about it all, but it sure is gentle on the plane.

Thanks for the report. I am building an LSA weight bushplane, and the T3 is exactly what I am after. Please keep us posted on your testing of this LSA weight version of the T3.

-M3X

Maybe I missed it, what does this weigh? I think courierguys quest for lite weight has rubbed off on me. Or, winter has me siting in front of the computer too much, with way too many ideas running through my head. That is the most likely scenario!!