Prop length with 26” tires?

[Utah-Jay]

What length can you comfortably use? I am hoping for a 82” prop. Gonna be the Sensenich ground adjustable so will need to order it soon as it goes certified in December and I don’t want to be waiting in a year from now

[whee]

A BH friend of mine says 29” minimum for a 84” prop. 82” should be ok on 26” tires but you will pickup occasional rock damage.

Going with a smaller diameter tw will have too. I switched from a 11” to a 9” and it helped some.

[Utah-Jay]

A BH friend of mine says 29” minimum for a 84” prop. 82” should be ok on 26” tires but you will pickup occasional rock damage.

Going with a smaller diameter tw will have too. I switched from a 11” to a 9” and it helped some.

Thanks whee, I went with the 10” Bearhawk tailwheel with the round spring.

I really want the longer prop, but need to make sure I have plenty of clearance for the backcountry

[whee]

I totally understand. My 88” prop is getting destroyed on pavement runways, when I go to the backcountry it’s really bad. My friend was clear that 29” was his minimum for an 84” prop. He flew flew aggressive backcountry type stuff.

[Battson]

Bah... you'll get rock damage with 2 foot of ground clearance! It all depends how you operate the plane.

I had an 83" prop with 8:00 tires, and you can wheelbarrow along on the mains with the nose pointing at the ground without the prop tips touching the grass.

[zkelley2]

My 82 on 800s was fine. Can't remember the clearance I measured though.

[Utah-Jay]

Great news on the clearance, I read I will lose a bit of cruise speed with the bigger prop, but I am willing for great STOL capability for my backcountry strips. 125mph cruise is fine with me, based on the Patrol numbers with posted, I should be about to hit 125 TAS

[m.mooney]

When light, I’m off easily in under 150’ and can comfortably land in 300’, Density Altitude dependent of course. When heavy, I know I can get out if I landed there. My risk tolerance has me using 500’ as a minimum for off airport, mostly unobstructed gravel bars or sage brush flats and calm, stable air. If it’s shorter than 500, I can usually find a longer, suitable location nearby and I choose that. If you’re planning off airport operations, you might consider 31s, they’ll dramatically improve your capabilities/safety and you can run any prop you want. If on airport, as in backcountry strips, very few are as short as 700’ and 26s or even 850s should be more than adequate. When you say 300’, I assume you plan off airport ops, which reinforces the importance of larger Bushwheels.

[Utah-Jay]

I am only going off pavement for known backcountry airstrips in Utah and Idaho, the Idaho strips are often shorter than the Utah strips which tend to be long by backcountry standards. I am sure the 26” tires are more than adequate. Great to know you can takeoff shorter than you land, that is very reassuring. Typically for fishing we are taking off in afternoon heat and higher DA’s and that is the issue, but I doubt that the takeoff distance would double so I will be solid on the 700’ (shortest I would use) strips.

[zkelley2]

If you're doing the more or less grass airports and gravel strips in ID and UT, there's no way I'd run 26's. 800s tops. No reason at all to take away all that cruise speed for that stuff.