Wheels

[pictsidhe]

So what's wrong with steel wheels?Could be sealed tubeless with black tire bead sealant.

Weight.
The plastic 4" rim is half the weight of the HF steel one about that size. Tubeless tyres have an air impermeable inner layer. Trying to seal a tube tyre will need frequent reinflation. Tubeless tyres can be found in many sizes, Carlisle seem to make all their lawn ones tubeless and are a reasonable quality and cost. The HF tyres are pretty appalling...
I haven't weighed a 4.80/4.00-8 HF wheel yet, but Grainger puts the weight of a 4.80/4.00-8 wheelbarrow wheel as 6.6lb, nearly 2lb up on my plastic ones. I'll try to remember my luggage scales next time I visit HF.
My wheelbarrow wheels are 8oz heavier than rocky's BMX type wheels, not bad for all the extra tyre they have. Probably stronger, too. If tubeless tyres work, they could end up lighter than Rocky's wheels. There are numerous plastic wheelbarrow wheels made in China, I was hoping to find some that take the 1 3/8 OD bearings, but didn't. I may see if I can get some sample rims direct from China.

 

[blane.c]

The 20" BMX style, consider the height you will get around 5" taller stance without adding to gear length, or you can shorten gear length about 5" and maintain same stance. Also it is easier to roll over an object on the ground with a wheel of greater diameter which puts less strain on the gear.

 

[proppastie]

If my plastic hamper wheels do not work my next one probably will be a single fat aircraft nose wheel ( 500x5 ) The wheels are reasonably light but the 6 ply tires and tubes are not. One thought is the much lighter Harbor Freight tire and tube, but looking at them they are paper thin rubber, so maybe not.

 

[pictsidhe]

You could add lightness and a bit of spring by drilling through the side of your tyres.
What size are they? The red plastic wheel in my first post with a better tyre may be a good bet for you.

 

[Highflight]

The pterodactyl ultralight used plastic rims like those Highflight mentions but MTB are much more resistant and convenient.

The great majority of recumbent trikes use standard MTB wheels and can take the side loads without any problem; think about cargo bicycle speeds. Front kart wheels lack brakes and are not particularly cheap and use slick type covers, rear kart wheels have a spider kind of fitting that makes them unsuitable for an axle support.

It is much more cheap and simple to go straight to the aircraft spruce catalog or to contact any aircraft manufacturer than to recycle John Deere/Kart wheels or other non aero wheels; motorbike and Quad wheels are too heavy for aircraft use.

Oriol

Drum or mtn. bike disc brakes can be fitted to both the Azusa and DWT wheels, it does however require an adapter. We use straight rib 2-ply, tubeless tires on the Douglas DWT wheels, tubes are required for the two piece Azusa wheels. I do not agree with you that it is it is cheaper to go to Aircraft Spruce, typically the DWT is less than half that of a Hager wheel, an ultralight does not require an expensive, certified 6 or 8 ply aircraft tire. This is a photo of a Belite brake installation.

 

[proppastie]

expensive, certified 6 or 8 ply aircraft tire. ]

I agree an expensive aircraft tire is not necessary for an UL....The Air Hawk is an aircraft tire though and with a tube not low weight.

 

[proppastie]

You could add lightness and a bit of spring by drilling through the side of your tyres.
What size are they? The red plastic wheel in my first post with a better tyre may be a good bet for you.

they are 2x8 and are Colson brand. The reason I might not keep them is the lack of suspension, but I am working on that as regards my seat cushion. The positives are cost and weight. This thread is a fantastic reference.....thank you.

http://www.colsoncaster.com/

 

[pictsidhe]

proppastie, look at the red plastic wheel in my first post. If it looks interesting, I could send you mine. They look pretty sturdy. I think the wheels are rated at 150kg, though that may be a tyre limit. They'll take HF 10" wheel tyres. I'd suggest trying a tubeless Carlisle if they past initial inspection, though.

Back to my wheels. I've been hunting suitable tubeless tyres. First to be tried was a Greenball Transmaster for around $10 from sam's club. 2lb 10z Though claimed to be tubeless, the ID was way too big to seal on my rim. It seated with no air, but I could only get a few psi in them as they leaked everywhere. Some furtive checking of 4 ply carlisles in the local Walmart aerospace department revealed that the $13 carlisle 2 plys would be well worth trying. First one I ordered had been badly trimmed, it had a knife slice out past the bead. So that went back without being tried. The bead diameter was promising, 3mm less than the Greenball. I just picked up a replacement, 2lb 14oz. An hour in the oven at 180F with a barely inflated tube and it's no longer flat packed. Went on OK with a little grunting, no tools and a wipe of windex. Inflated fine thanks to my oven trick and no leaks I've also stuffed tyres with rags before a low bake to get them suitably puffed to seal. If you try that, wait before SWMBO is out for the day, there is a lingering smell of rubber for a while afterwards...
O.D. is 15 1/8" total weight of wheel and tyre is 4lb 4.4oz. Not bad for the amount of tyre. If I find myself needing tubes, the Greenball is lighter, looks reasonable quality and is 15 1/2" diameter
I still need to sort out imperial size bearings. I have an idea on that, I'll let you lot know if it works.

They don't look much different to the cheapo tyres in my first post, so no pic.

 

[meglin1]

We also suffered in Ukraine with the choice of wheels. Then began to cast their own aluminum. Weight rim with bearings turned out to be 1.63 kg. When tested to destruction, the wheel was destroyed for loads from 6 to 9 tons. Currently, we use these wheels on 1-seater, 2-seater and 3-seater aircraft, gyroplanes, trikes. Rubber usually Delitair, but if we are talking about intense operating training and agricultural aircraft, then use the rubber from Poland or the Czech Republic. The weight of the tire is 1.36 kg, the chamber - 0.4 kg.

 

[proppastie]

found this bike safety spec........that is a (14x1.95) tire for a kids BMX.....have to wounder if it really will take the spec. load.....?
Thats 2.32 lb no air
e-CFR data is current as of January 27, 2021
PART 1512—REQUIREMENTS FOR BICYCLES (edited)

(j) Rim test. (Ref. §§1512.10 and 1512.11(c)):
(1) Procedure. Only one wheel need be tested if the front and rear wheel are of identical construction. The wheel to be tested shall be removed from the bicycle and be supported circumferentially around the tire sidewall. A load of 2000 N (450 lbf) shall be applied to the axle and normal to the plane of the wheel for at least 30 seconds. If the wheel hub is offset, the load shall be applied in the direction of the offset.
(2) Criteria. The wheel and tire assembly shall be inspected for compliance with the requirements of §1512.11(a) and shall be remounted on the bicycle according to the manufacturer's instructions and shall turn freely without roughness and shall comply with the requirement of §1512.11(b). (edited)

 

[Mohawk750]

We have recently upgraded all of our ultralight's aging 4&5"dia Azuza plastic wheels to 6"dia Douglas (DWT) Alumilite one piece wheels. I installed 2-ply tires instead of the OEM 4-ply, the all up weight of the new larger tires and aluminum wheels is comperable to the original setup.

What hubs and brakes are you using with these wheels? Found Douglas's website but only found the wheels.

 

[wktaylor]

Sad... when I was a kid in the 60's... aircraft 'junk yards' would sell a set of wheels/brakes from a wrecked bird dirt cheep... usually good/restorable condition. Likewise aircraft manufacturers had weekend scrap sales... would sell aircraft hardware, sheet metal, etc.. by the #. Sadly price gouging for dubious resold 'stuff', liability and FAA rules regarding part traceability... killed-off these businesses.

NOTE. Fud-4-Thot.
Last time I changed tires on my riding mower, the innertubes were shot and the dealer didn't have any. As an alternative... at a cost less than inner-tubes that needed constant re-inflation... they filled the interior cavity of the tire with soft expanding elastomer-foam. Tires have a solid but NOT hard 'ride'... and are maintenance free. I asked about the replacement... he laughed... they carefully cut the worn-out foamed-tire-off from the wheel rim.

 

[Pops]

I used to go to Rockwell International surplus store when they were building the B-1 bomber at Columbus, Oh in the 1970's. Bolts, rivets, alum, pulleys, turnbuckles, etc, etc. was 10 cents a pound. I still have a lot of stuff I bought at that time. Elevator trim tab of the SSSC is alum honeycomb from the B-1.

 

[Pops]

Side note-- When the FAA from the Columbus , OH office inspected the JMR in July, after everything was finished we started talking about things and I mentioned about going to the surplus store at Rockwell and buying parts for my homebuilts, he told me he was working there writing the TO's for the B-1 at that time.

 

[Vigilant1]

Elevator trim tab of the SSSC is alum honeycomb from the B-1.

The B-1s are scheduled to start going to the boneyard in about 12 years. Your SSSC and its B-1-derived trim tab might outlast all of them.

 

[Pops]

The SSSC will be trucked up from N.C. to my hanger on Feb 20th. Coming home day. Hard to wait.

 

[Rockiedog2]

The SSSC will be trucked up from N.C. to my hanger on Feb 20th. Coming home day. Hard to wait.

You buy it back?

 

[Pops]

You buy it back?

Yes.

 

[Pops]

Checking out material to fix it in my hanger. Found some LE plywood from when I built it and checked out how much recovering material I have. Will have to buy a little fabric. Have the wing tip bow jig. Extra wood, etc. Still have the rib jig in case I need it. Since it had a prop strike, I have 3 good STD Germany cranks to replace the engine crank. From the pictures, looks like one lower engine mount tube is bent a little. No problem.
Right lower firewall corner took a hard hit and broke the lower longeron in two places. Its fixable but might be quicker to just built a new fuselage.

 

[Vigilant1]

Checking out material to fix it in my hanger. Found some LE plywood from when I built it and checked out how much recovering material I have. Will have to buy a little fabric. Have the wing tip bow jig. Extra wood, etc. Still have the rib jig in case I need it. Since it had a prop strike, I have 3 good STD Germany cranks to replace the engine crank.

It is stories like this that keep me from getting rid a lot of stuff I should really get rid of. The difference is that I can never actually find the saved items I need.

Right lower firewall corner took a hard hit and broke the lower longeron in two places. Its fixable but might be quicker to just built a new fuselage.

All that latice work... I sure hope you can just make a suitable repair.