Scott 3200 - $3,100

Jay Hardin · Post by **Jay Hardin** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 01:02

I had to buy a steering arm assembly for my 3200 this week. My newest Aircraft Spruce catalog was 2003, and the entire tailwheel was priced at $545.

Well, I went to the web site to get an updated price, and nearly fell out of my chair. In 3 years it went from $545 to $3,100!!! My steering arm cost $214.

Are these guys TRYING to lose business? There's a cheaper alternative now - the Alaskan Bushwheel, which is a Scott 3200 clone, for around $900, which is still ridiculous.

Post by **joea** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 01:29

Believe that its a combination of the lawyers getting in the mix and up and until now there was no competition. That price is simply crazy and hope that they do not sell a one. Finally they might realize why and get the price down where it should be!

Jay,

Can you please email me directly when you get a chance? joeaksa AT attglobal.net

Thx,

JoeA

Nathan K. Hammond · Post by **Nathan K. Hammond** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 19:59

Makes you think they want to quit making the tailwheel. oh well, ABI has my buisness!

nkh

Paul Agaliotis · Post by **Paul Agaliotis** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 22:54

We just installed a Bushwheel on one of the Champs at the school. On the bench the wheel unlocked correctly, on the plane it wouldn,t unlock for love or money. Called Bushwheel and they were aware of the problem and could perform a "modification" to correct the defect. We have not recieved the wheel back yet for installation. It appears to be a quality manufactured item but I,m not sprouting any serious wood about it yet.
Paul

malmon · Post by **malmon** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 22:19

We instaled one on a PA-14 and ad good luc with it. A fellow up the strip put on on is PA-12 and had the same problem you did. e sent it back and for the mod and now it works great! It looks like a direct copy of the Scott 3200. Not bad for $1,000.00

Paul Agaliotis · Post by **Paul Agaliotis** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 22:30

malmon,
We haven,t recieved our wheel back yet, but its encouraging to know the modification worked. And yes, the quality looks first rate.
Paul

Post by **joea** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 17:07

Paul,

Did you ever get the ABI back? If yes, how did it work?

Joe

gusc · Post by **gusc** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 14:21

I installed a Maule SPS-8A on my Champ and it works great. There is a newer heavier duty one now and it may even have a double fork, I don't remember for sure. This one is surely heavy duty enough for a Champ.

I had the heavier duty one on my Stinson and that thing had a very heavy tail. Never had any problems of any kind.

I never did understand why anyone was willing to pay so much for a Scott? Are they really that much better?

Post by **joea** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 19:33

Gus,

Yes the 3200, or its clone are that much better. My landings are terrible at times and the 3200 is stable as can be. On my old Chief (the one back in the 1980's) had a Maule and it wobbled all over the place. Finally gave up and bought a 3200. No other changes and the airplane was transformed.

Have heard that the Maule is excellent for 3-400 hours then its time to get a new one. The 3200 may be the same way but at this time point you can overhaul it and bring it back to new, and have heard that the Maule will not do the same.

I am biased on the 3200 and would rather spend more money to keep me from ground looping than take a chance with another tailwheel.

Joe

gusc · Post by **gusc** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 21:36

Joe,

If a Maule wobbles the tail spring is flattened or the bronze main shaft bushing is worn. The bushing is easy and inexpensive to replace, just be sure to get the grease hole in the right place. It will not tolerate much wear.

Wheel bearings are very cheap. I found that they are the same as in a riding lawnmower and permanently lubed, I remove my Zerk fitting in the wheel.

None of the Maule parts are expensive and all are easy to replace. The one on my Champ was once on my Stinson and is probably 20 yrs old.

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 22:37

I have a "Firestone" (that's what it says on it) on my Champ. Has about a 6" hard rubber tire and resembles the early Scott (2000??). Seems to work OK or at least better than my Maule Pneumatic which is only a couple of years old and maybe 100 hours or so. I've never been able to stop the shimmy to my satisfaction and it is more pronounced with the Maule. I've replaced the tail spring, checked the pivot shaft angle which seems correct and tried different tailwheel spring combinations. The Maule is much smoother on concrete than the hard rubber tire but would shake the filling out of my teeth at times where as the Firestone wasn't near as bad. I can stop the shimmy by going ahead with the stick and unloading the tail wheel on roll out which isn't always the brightest idea. This leads me to believe I still need to increase the pivot shaft angle with some shims. I'd prefer to use the Maule if I can solve the shimmy problem (which is no problem on grass, by the way).

Mike Berg

gusc · Post by **gusc** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 18:50

Mike,

TW shimmy is very frustrating. The only two times I had the problem were caused by a flat spring and the worn Maule main shaft bushing previously mentioned.

I discovered that my current Champ TW plate on the fuselage is not true so I had to use a wedge to level it. However, I didn't have a shimmy - my problem was the spring was so flat the TW was hitting the rudder - not good. Had to repair the rudder as a result.

There is some latitude on adjusting the TW shaft angle in both the forward and aft spring attach points via washers and longer bolts. Of course the fwd point changes the angle much more than the rear and is easiest to adjust.

I found also that my spring was missing a leaf?? There is no end to the weird things I have found on this airplane.

National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Scott 3200 - $3,100

Scott 3200 - $3,100

Bush wheel