Has anyone installed 850 x 6 tires?

[DavidB.]

We almost have our 75 HP 7AC back together and are looking at tires for it. It seems we can legally install 850 x 6 tires on it, and I think they would look good and work well on some of the soft and bumpy grass strips around here.

Has anyone on here used a tire this size on a 75 HP Champ? Would I loose much cruise speed?
If so, anyone have a recomendation and maybe a few pictures of some various tire sizes on Champs? It is a slow aircraft already, I don't want to make it slower by too much, but if we only loose a little cruise, we can live with that.

David

[DavidB.]

I looked at the TCDS and don't see 8.50 x 6 tires listed, but there are 8.00 X 6. Maybe that the size we'll go with.

[WWhunter]

Do a search on here as the subject has been discussed many times. I believe that you may be SOL (yeah $h!t out of luck) unless you can get them field approved. I tried to do it several years ago and know it has been done but for me I just ended up buying some AkBushwheels and they came with an STC. Not a cheap proposition but probably the easiest.
Good Luck,
Keith

[CptKelly]

In my opinion, 8:50x6 tires are too heavy and too stiff for small Air Knockers. You would also see a marked airspeed loss.
I have a set of the 8:50's on a 180hp Supercub. I saw a 10 mph loss when compared to 7:00's. 8:50's are quite heavy as well, and the sidewalls are pretty stiff, so don't expect any cushioning effect. These tires are not at all like the Bushwheels tire.
Just my 2c worth.

Mike

[Paul Agaliotis]

I licensed a 7DC for many years with 8.50's. When they wore out we put 8.00's on, the cost was much more for the larger tires. Plus it was generally a hard surface airplane.

[DavidB.]

I actually just ordered 7's. thanks for the advice. Here is a picture of the paint we put on today





I think it turned out really good. Sure was a lot of work to get it this nice. The control surfaces are next and then the wings. The engine is freshly overhauled with brand new cylinders and lots of other stuff. We are making a simple and light interior for it, and putting in all new windows. I think it will be a nice little plane. I plan to fly it about 150 hours or so in a pretty short time frame, and it will be for sale. Champs seem to sell pretty quick, and I need to invest the money back into an IFR capable aircraft (thinking Maule MX 180) and then I will look for another project to restore, or maybe buy someone kit they gave up on.

[MikeB]

David,
Nice looking paint job! What engine do you have? Regarding tires: my first Champ came with 8:00 X 6 tires and I flew with them for several years before switching to 6:00 x 6's. This is just a personal opinion but I thought it landed/handled better on hard surface with the larger tires. Mostly I switched to the 6:00's for price as the 8's were a lot more money along with the tubes. If my memory holds me correct I think the Champs originally had 6 x 6 two ply tires for whatever it's worth. Of course they mostly landed on grass in those days.

MikeB

[CptKelly]

You guys are doing a really beautiful job on your Champ. While I might be in the minority, I like your paint scheme much better than the original. Where are you from?

Mike

[DavidB.]

You guys are doing a really beautiful job on your Champ. While I might be in the minority, I like your paint scheme much better than the original. Where are you from?

Mike

I really do not like the original yellow paint with an orange kidney painted on the outside. It looks weird. There is one painted like that rotting away at a local AG field, looks uglier every time I see it.

We are proud of the work we have done so far on our champ. We are in Chelan (S10).

[gusc]

My 7AC had 800x6 tires when I got it , ugly as h...! I replaced them with 600x6 and now it looks great. Also the nose was too high with the 800s. They were also too stiff.

I love the original yellow/red paint. I've seen so many really weird Aeronca paint jobs, the very worst is trying to make it look like a Citabria!

NOTHING looks better than the original paint style! I was a teenager when they first came out and I loved that paint from the beginning.