bush tires?

[jsf74]

anybody running a 6.00x8.50 tire on their chiefs? i seen a set on the tow plane at our airport and thought they would look real nice on my chief! would be real nice with a nice polished set of hupcaps. kind of like a bush plane but without a huge tire. i really love the bush look but dont know if my little a65 will have the power. any pics or feedback, i have to buy tires anyways so just kicking around some ideas.

[jsf74]

i finally found some info and was wondering if there still not legal. this was for a champ but im sure its probably the same for a chief.

" I too, like so many others love the old Champs and Chiefs. I think you need to be made aware that the 8.50 X 6 Tires are not on the TCDS for the 7 Series Champs. The only tires that are approved on the Type Certification are 6.00 X 6, 7.00 X 6 and the 8.00 X 6. The 8.00 X 6 are a really good size for the Champ, it gives it that Bush Plane look, but keeps it 100% Legal. There may be a form 337 (field approval) for the use of 8.50 X 6 tires on your airplane, so look at that as well. Your resident Authorized Inspector would certainly keep you headed down the right path. The other thing to keep in mind is, if you have an Incident, or Accident, your insurance carrier will most likely note that the tires are not approved for this particular aircraft, (in many Cases Voiding your Insurance). Good Luck, and flying the Champ will be one of the best experiences you will ever have in Aviation."

[MikeB]

I had 6:00 x 8:00 on my Champ originally. I always thought it handled a bit better than when I put the 6's on later. Not that it handled all that bad either way. I have the old 8's on my L16 right now (just to move things around) and may go ahead and put new ones on later, although they're pretty pricy.

By the way, and this is a pet peeve on mine, why is it we can't change tire size ,etc. or make simple changes and improvements on our aircraft but dumb teenagers and 'mud boggers' can drive down the road with their suspension jacked up and huge tires without jeopardising their insurance? Or at least I've never heard of a claim that wasn't paid on one of the 'monster trucks.
MikeB

[jsf74]

because the goverment thinks they have to protect us from ourselves. do you think i need to get a stc for this?

btw, easy on the mud boggers.

[MikeB]

Sorry about that! Got carried away with common sense again. Anyway, back in the 1970's I put a three cylinder Detroit Diesel in a International pickup so guess I have to plead guilty of modification too. Fuel mileage went from 11 to 22 MPG but suppose it wouldn't have passed some dumb emssion standard at the time.

MikeB

[jsf74]

looks like the only legal tire is a 6.00x8.00

[Captgrumps]

According the the Chief type certificate the only legal tire is the 7:00X6 and the 8:00x6. I have a prewar chief and have 8:00x6's on it, but they were approved by a field approval.

doug