Bearhawk Aircraft Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC Eric Newton's Builder Manuals Bearhawk Plans Bearhawk Store

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Are axle bushing inserts necessary

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Are axle bushing inserts necessary

    Does anyone really think the axle bushing reinforcements are necessary and worth the b.#. to install them??

  • #2
    If you are planning on flying with skis, then yes.

    Comment


    • #3
      I’m not planning to install the inserts. None of the BHs I’m familiar with that to my kind of flying use them.

      A couple guys have said the inserts make installing skis harder and they weren’t sure they were actually necessary. I had hoped to be on skis this year but it isn’t going to happen. Hopefully next year.

      kestrel, did you install the reinforcement insert?
      Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

      Comment


      • #4
        I have no idea why the inserts would make skis harder to install. The reinforcements are friction fit inside the axles, no change in OD. Some Piper gear have 1 1/4in axles and the skis are for 1 1/2in axles. Those have to be bushed. Maybe that's what they are referring to. Otherwise it makes no sense. Here's how I did mine, Rob Taylor did his the same way.

        homebuilt aircraft, builders log, experimental, experimental aircraft, 51% rule, fifty-one percent rule, 51% percent rule, aircraft homebuilt kit, aircraft homebuilt plan, aircraft composite homebuilt, aircraft experimental homebuilt, aircraft experimental kit
        You do not have permission to view this gallery.
        This gallery has 1 photos.

        Comment


        • #5
          Ah, because your taking about straight skis and I’m talking about retractable wheel skis. Retracts attach via the axle ID.
          Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

          Comment


          • alaskabearhawk
            alaskabearhawk commented
            Editing a comment
            Ok, make perfect sense now. I wish I could afford retracts! Those TrickAir units are amazing. But as much ski flying that I would be doing straight skis will be just fine.

          • whee
            whee commented
            Editing a comment
            I wish I lived where I could use straight skis! I’m told good straight skis perform better than any retract plus they weigh less and are cheaper.

            I’m planning to build a set of Fli-lite 3000 copies.

        • #6
          I haven't yet.

          It makes me slightly nervous when I think about it, but I don't know if I ever will. I just inspect for cracks every 100 hours. It would take a long time to crack through.

          I understand the inserts were a response to Pat F's crash in the desert after his axle cracked through, plus one other machine which was also scratch-built. I understand the factory welds have never cracked, on model A or B aircraft.

          However, the welds have been redesigned to account for this risk on the newer gear and shouldn't need reinforcement.

          Comment

          Working...
          X