Stiff Legged...

OK, I realize that this is really far out, but has anyone ever eliminated the shocks and tried a stiff legged gear on a Cub?... It would have to be a light airplane and equipped with 850s or larger tires... I told you that it was far out...

I have a friend with a Clipped wing Cub with straight gear and original 800x4 tires. It's been that way for as long as I can remember.

Steve

Contact Gary Austin at Retro Aviation in Memphis, TN.

retroaviation@aol.com

He can tell you about his installation.

Steve

Thanx Steve...

Ya Piper tried that, they called it the Vagabond PA-15, if memeory serves me correctly, I think the first ones had no bungees.
Brian

Yea, the PA15 was built as cheap as possible out of spare parts Piper already had. They used a 65hp Lycoming because the Lycoming plant was closer therefore shipping was cheaper. It had single controls, Cub yellow paint with no stripe and no bungees. It got them out of the hole and the next year they built thePA16 Clipper. Same basic airplane stretched to be 4 place. They later came out with the PA17 Vagabond with bungees, dual controls and a Cont. 65. A good book on Piper history is called "Mr. Piper and His Cubs". His filosofy(spelling) was for every town to have a field to land in and to build simple reliable A/C everyone could afford. He probably wouldn't like Malibu Miridians huh.

Steve

Thanx for reminding me Steve... I used to have a -17 and I've flown a friend's -15... -15 gear felt more like a Luscombe... I think I'm going to try it on the Cub-y... I like a solid feeling gear... If it's too solid, I'll put the shocks back on... One of the nice things about an experimental...

I seen an ad in trade a plane for spring steel gear for a cub. Any one ever seen one or tried one?

There used to be a cub in a hanger in Pilot Point that had spring steel gear, looked like ces 150 . Don't know anything else about it.
Carl

I have a friend who put aluminum spring gear on an Experimental Clipped Wing Cub. He hasn't got it flying yet. Sure does look strange.

Steve

What about Burl's Aircraft spring/bungee replacement gear? Anybody hear how its been working out in the PA-18? The following is from their website:

http://www.burlsaircraft.com/

"This new design shock absorber / suspension system in one puts an end to the use of old design rubber shock cords.

The heavy duty design adds strength in all aspects of installation, operation
and adverse loading conditions. There is NO "slingshot" effect in the
rebound from hard landings. The landing gear is allowed to function normally but in a low - rebound state.

Virtually indestructible under even the most adverse conditions, the A/O Suspension System still delivers the smooth and positive control that
you would expect under normal operating conditions."

I have flown a 12 with cessna gear on it. it is a little heavy, but handles great. the plane is in Portland, Texas, and belongs to Jeff Hunt. the 12 is very heavily modified and is a beautiful craft. the gear box is "hell for stout", but it carries the 12 lines very nice. When put on the ground there is very little bounce or rebound, and it tracks very well.

Cubus Maximus said:

What about Burl's Aircraft spring/bungee replacement gear? Anybody hear how its been working out in the PA-18? The following is from their website:

http://www.burlsaircraft.com/

"This new design shock absorber / suspension system in one puts an end to the use of old design rubber shock cords.

The heavy duty design adds strength in all aspects of installation, operation
and adverse loading conditions. There is NO "slingshot" effect in the
rebound from hard landings. The landing gear is allowed to function normally but in a low - rebound state.

Virtually indestructible under even the most adverse conditions, the A/O Suspension System still delivers the smooth and positive control that
you would expect under normal operating conditions."

Click to expand...

I just e-mailed Burl for more information...

I don't know if anyone on SC.org has dealt with Burl, when I had my Sedan I did and found him to be nothing but first class, both in business and as a person...

Alpha Omega Suspension System

Hello,

I thought that I would update everyone a bit on the new AOS System we have been working on for the past 4+ yrs.

We have done over 80 drop tests since July 29, '02. It has taken longer to get what we needed to keep the acceleration loads down to where we want them.

Our last drop test series ended about a month ago with fantastic results. Since the weather had turned colder we decided to drop the hydrasorb/bungee arrangement again to get the current benchmark. The hydrasorb/bungee system had a maximum acceleration of 3.6 Gs. After 3 drops of the AOSS and 3 susbsequent modifications to the internal configuration the AOSS, the 4th drop had a maximum acceleration of 3.4 Gs. This 0.2 Gs softer than the hydrasorb/bungees.

The second "bounce" in the test was even more surprising and definitely desireable; the hydrasorb/bungees hit at 2.64 Gs and the AOSS hit at 1.35 Gs. In other words, the tires never left the ground on the second bounce for the AOSS.

Our main focus now is to "tune" the suspension portion of the AOSS. There is a slight lag and droop in supporting the load after the drop. The AOSS does not return fully to the top of the travel. This is being worked on now and tests are scheduled in the next two weeks. Will keep you posted.

We are using the 2,000 lb. configuration for all tests.

Burl A. Rogers

P.S. Sorry about the time /date posting. I am posting this on 11-27-02 @ 10.38AM

Well, I achieved a "stiff-legged" gear airplane by replacing the shocks... I put a 1080HD & 1280HD on each side and the gear is STIFF... I'm running 13# in the 850s on pavement and it seems to work out just like I want it...