Alaskan Bushwheel 3200 on 11cc Chief

[shep]

Well I am getting a lesson in aircraft restoration. Found out that the axle on my Scott 3000 B1 is fairly worn (tapers 0.745 -> 0.739) and a new axle is about $480 at univair and a $100 more at Aircraft Spruce. Throw in a new bushing and a hubcap and I am spending more than the price of a new Lang Tailwheel.

I have searched the forum and found alot of discussions on tailwheels but mostly for Champs. Has anyone fit a Scott or Alaskan Bushwheel to an 11CC Chief? The 11CC chief has a gross weight of 1350#, is that too much for the small Lang tailwheel? An 8 inch wheel should change the ground angle a little bit, anyone feel it makes a big difference? I am planing on an electrical system so a pound or two may offset the starter and alternator weights.

[joea]

Shep,

I have a Scott 3200 on my 11BC Chief and it works great. The Alaskan Bushwheel is a direct copy of the 3200 so you should have no problems.

As well if you ever do any "off airport" flying, this new tailwheel will be a lot nicer. The 3200/Bushwheel might be a bit heavier but on a Chief do not believe that its an issue. This is the third Chief that I have used this tailwheel with and same situation with each.

Joe

[Paul Agaliotis]

I would look at the Aviation Products tailwheel. The dual fork 6" model is alot of bang for the buck. About $250 direct.
Paul

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Shep,
The Lang can handle 1350# just fine. As to the deck angle with a 8" tire; unless you routinely opperate off of short strips or have to make short/soft field take-offs often, it won't affect performance.

The Lang is my choice for a solid tire tailwheel, the ABW-3200 is the choice for a pneumatic tailwheel. IMHO.

Paul, have you gotten an Aviation Products T/W approved?

nkh

[Paul Agaliotis]

Nathan,
Tailwheels are not regulated on a CAR 4 aircraft.
ACA and Legend Cub are working with the manufacturer to install them on the current models.
Paul

[shep]

I tried looking for the Aviation Products website but came up empty.

Paul: Does it use standard bushings? I notice that it uses sealed bearing in wheel. Do you toss the whole thing when it wears? Have you had to tear into it for maintainance? The fork looks like bent tubing or is it forged? Still leaning toward the Lang but I like the dual fork with a 6inch tire.

[Paul Agaliotis]

Shep,
You wont find a web site. He still communicates on a personal level. I,ll post a phone number when I have it in hand.
The only wear item is the wheel assembly. It comes with sealed bearings installed for about $30 bucks. The 6" is a softer rubber which I would recomend. The 4" is a hard wheel which is a harder ride in my opinion.
The fork is indeed a tubular weldment. It is about 7/8 thick wall tube and is quite robust. I dont know of any heat treat on the fork but I have not had any concerns with the strength. I use the dual fork model.
I purchased a 4" for the TAC and was not satisfied with the look or the ride. I called about a replacement fork to accept the 6" wheel and was quoted $70 dollars. I ended up buying the 6" tailwheel outright and just swapped.
The Lang is a good tailwheel and we used many on the Taylorcraft L2's. At one point we had some supply problems with the replacement parts and started looking into other options. This was one of the better items on the market.
Paul

[Paul Agaliotis]

Here is the information for the tailwheel.
Aviation Products Inc.
114 Bryant St
Ojai,CA. 93023
ph/fax (805)646-6042

Paul

[leeport33]

I have what my A-I said was a 6 inch scott. what model that is I have
no idea. IT is of course a hard rubber tire. as I havent messed with it
only wonder where I can get a new tire as this one seems to be worn
quite a bit. had to bush up my grabber bragger in order to keep the
wheel from slipping between the pins. Is there a model number stamped
on the metal some place. dumb question ? new owners do that.


Lee Byers leeport33 4268-1008
new member in Nov 75th birthday 48 Chief 85 hp 12 F

[Paul Agaliotis]

Lee,
If it has the solid tire it would be a Model 2000, some manufactures also added part numbers. The wheel is no longer in production and the parts are getting pricey. There are replacement wheels on the market and everyone has their favorite. You can also find used stuff on eBay but unless it is listed as new parts it probably is in the same shape as yours.
Paul

[leeport33]

Aircraft Spruce has this tire in the low 60 bucks area, so will see what
thats all about when I visit. univair also has this tire for about the same
bucks. Univair is just up the road from the Springs, so may just deal
with them because of shipping cost. couldnt be much from California I dont believe. Well, so much for tail wheel tires. Later,

[leeport33]

Another mention of tailwheel stuff. I received an E Mail from Aviation
Products@att.net and they mention their unit for 255 dollars. no mention
of the size of tire, just the cost of their entire unit. E mail them and
Karen will get back to you I think. It seems to be a minor alteration and can be installed with a logbook entry. leeport33

[joea]

Lee,

I do not know anything about this tailwheel. Best photo that I could fine is this one:



This is from a homebuilders site but descent photo. Possibly others will chime in if they have used one of these before.

Joe A

[CptKelly]

I bought one of the Bushwheel 3200 clones, but it wouldn't work on Gail's Champ. Don Sword/Richard Sword worked with it for over a day, and couldn't get it to unlock. My NC AI also worked on it for a while, but neither could get it to work. I finally installed a Lang unit, and it works just fine. Bushwheels (Wup) has told me to send their unit back for a refund, and its on my list.

Mike

[Nathan K. Hammond]

I've flown the API on a couple of SportCubs; and while they were nice, it did seem a little more "twichy" than the same airplane with a ABW3200. They were also just a little stiff on the break-out force to unlock it when pushing on the tail. But that could be because of the relative low time.

nkh