Extended landing gear

[Helichicken]

Has anybody extended the landing gear on a Bearhawk 4 place?
Maybe 3” extension with a 6” to 8” width increase...... or more.
I bought the plane and it had been groundlooped several years ago.
It has the classic ground loop damage.... tailwheel tweaked, outboard 3’wingtip damage,prop strike, gear collapse
It was never repaired and put back in the air.
Im in the process of tearing everything apart to rebuild it.
i have searched the World Wide Web on this topic.
It has been touched on several times but that’s about it.
I really like the look and functionality of the extended gear on a Maule.
Any input would be much appreciated.

[whee]

I asked around a while back and never found anyone that had done it. I ultimately decided it wasn't necessary on the BH. It was done on the Maules to increase the AOA for max performance takeoffs, increase prop clearance and increase gear strength. The BH already has all those.

This pics kinda shows how tall a BH is even when on small tires (800x6) with a large TW (400x4). When she goes on 31s it's going to require a ladder to check the oil.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I'm with whee on this one. I have a Maule with standard gear, and it's several inches shorter than what you see in the photo above. With the extended gear, it would be about this tall.

[Chewie]

I love how you just casually talk about cowling height when you post an epic pic like this.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

It was certainly an epic day! My first flight into Pioneer Field in Oshkosh a few weekends ago. Interestingly, it's the best photo that I have of a human next to the gear so you can see how tall it is compared to a Bearhawk.

[Helichicken]

Thanks guys for the replies .... I have 2 Supercubs, one is 180hp certified the other one is experimental with 6” extended gear. I get the mindset that a wider stance and higher angle of attack would be good for everything I fly. But , probably not when it comes to the bearhawk. Anyway..... just asking to see what everyone thought. Thanks again.

[AZBearhawk272]

The standard Bearhawk Landing Gear geometry is pretty well optimized.
Best to stay with the stock structure and go with the newer Shock Strut which now utilizes a more robust round tube in place of the streamlined tube of years gone by.

Widening of the track will alter lots of geometry and increase the loads on the shock strut, causing the spring to bottom under less load. As the loads go up the gear goes out,
stresses go higher to the extent that more material is need in the strut and larger fasteners needed..........
Slippery slope.

My back country experience is the gear is quite rugged and narrow is better for the task at hand.

[N942VT]

photo (3).JPG Bigger Tires!

[Helichicken]

I couldn’t argue with that picture if I wanted to. One good looking BH you have.

[nichzimmerman]

I used to participate in the PA-20/22 community where there are a bewildering number of mods to ruggedize and increase STOL, and I have to imagine the Supercub and Maule communities are similar. But unlike these airframes, the Bearhawk is not a 60 year old design, and the designer knew about the shortcomings of other designed when he built the prototype. That said, Proto 2 had longer gear legs than Proto 1, and I believe that all the plans reflect this. I hope some of the STOL operators chime in with their opinion.

Also, I can't remember where I read it but I recall reading a warning against widening the gear beyond 72". I presume that is because it will increase the loads on the gear or attach points beyond acceptable limits.

[bearhawk2015]

delete.........

[whee]

BH2015 does have a solid point; It is easy to land the BH tail wheel first. I'd SWAG that on 31s it will be much more difficult even with a big TW. I suppose that if your going with 29s or something then slightly extended gear may be desirable depending on your mission.

Here's a couple pics of one of my favorite guys in the BH community and his killer BH on 35s. It's huge and your can't see shit when on the ground...
19260510_10212986456197602_6750871349618417831_n.jpg?oh=d9c3a5d0e264ad16bdf17164140f9c4e&oe=5B4AAD35.jpg

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[nichzimmerman]

This is becoming a very motivational thread thanks to all the pictures! Having only one flight in a 4-place, I have to ask: will the tailwheel touch down first with full flaps? Seems like with all those flaps it would be hard to reach that AOA without loads of power, VGs, helium-filled wings.... Of course, I'm talking about 8.50" wheels or smaller.

[Helichicken]

I certainly don’t wanna reengineer anything ( I’m just a farmer for goodness sake) but a little wider track and a little taller gear wouldn’t be a bad thing. ( I don’t think)
Like Whee said..... you can’t see nothing while on the ground. I’m already used to S turns while taxiing

[Battson]

Not sure if 31” bush wheels would fix this but if you put bushwheels on your probably going to put a bigger tailwheel on and the airplane will probably be close to the same angle of attack on the ground with bushwheels as it was with regular tires, unless you put 35” tires on.

It turns out the AOA increases a noticeable amount with each increase in tire size. In turn, over the nose visibility reduces each time too, as Jon said. Taxiing becomes harder.
The larger tailwheel is a one-off change and has little effect because the wheel is a long way back, and always relatively small by comparison to the mains. So the change in angle it creates is minor compared to increasing the main tire size.

This is becoming a very motivational thread thanks to all the pictures! Having only one flight in a 4-place, I have to ask: will the tailwheel touch down first with full flaps? Seems like with all those flaps it would be hard to reach that AOA without loads of power, VGs, helium-filled wings.... Of course, I'm talking about 8.50" wheels or smaller.

If you are trying to land as slow as possible with power on, you can always get a steeper AOA than the main gear allow. The BH wing can fly at about 30 degrees to the horizon (never measured exactly) while "hovering" down the runway a few inches off the ground, provided you have full flaps and VGs installed. You need a lot of power on and full flap, so the effective AOA over the wing remains inside the stall. The mixture of the great low speed performance of the aerofoil, flying in ground effect, and the blown flap inside the prop arc combine to allow for tailwheel first landings.
The largest bushwheels and extended gear will not change the tailwheel-first landing situation.