Alaskan Landing Gear - Beringer

A cool video of the different tests that have been performed...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozhqj5pWBqY

How about introducing yourself?

We manufacture certified wheels and brakes for general aviation and had the idea of designing a SuperCub landing gear a couple years ago after a flight camp in Alaska !
This is a patented kinematic that offers a vertical travel of 12'' (for SuperCub) with oleo shocks, which makes the gear different that what exists on the market.

No offense but the video isn't convincing. Nobody with 850s and a grass strip is going to provide much of a test platform. Do you have a landing gear system on any working bush Cubs? I'd like to see how it takes what an SQ can dish out. How does the gear adapt to different weights? How many sets are in service in Alaska and for how long? Does temperature have any effect of shock performance? How does the cost compare to the TK-1 or AOSS alternatives?

probably not appropriate for the open forum... more like a classified ad....

where the test without the ramps more real world like rock or tundra would be?

Hes just showing different tests hes done so far, i dont see any advertising. Every thread on AOSS stuff could be removed if this is advertising. If we could buy a $20 shock absorber which a hydrosorb is and put the right bungee chords on for the application there wouldnt be any $3000 landing gear shock setups sold. Especially with bushwheels. ((((MY OPINION)))

That is the great thing about the new classifieds. I can move it over there and everybody is happy...

sj

it's the rear gear leg that jumped out and scared me at first glance... in real world use((no ramps) logs, rocks, tundra) i bet it will be bending....

I guess if they brace it of the top of front leg that would help...

then again it pretty much looks like Champ? gear, with longer distance between attach points....

I would guess a price near the 10K for that setup. Am I wrong??

Is there any Super Cub riding it yet? Looks like a nice setup.

Looks sweet. I love when folks try to build a better mousetrap!

One of the hardest things for a business to do is to displace an incumbent product technology ("no one ever got fired specifying IBM"). Here there are two incumbents: standard cub gear, and AOSS. I'm willing to give a newcomer a break while he's trying to get established. Still, I won't consider these until I see some significant field experience.

850s seem like a better tire for testing than Bushwheels, which would soak up the shock without flexing the gear.

Aluminum tube suggests the possibility of fatigue problems. Has any ultimate load testing or fatigue testing been performed?

A big consideration in motorsports suspension is unsprung weight. How it behaves with big Bushwheels is relevant.

I wonder how much "constructive criticism" & negative press the AOSS system got before finally being accepted?......then again, maybe that contributed to it being as good as it is. I applaud innovation & those who take the risk.

I kinda look at things in a "post mortem" way... (what & why it failed MULTIPLE times..)

how do regular & beefed up normal style cub gear LEGS normally bend or fail??:
1: rear leg bends/folds
2: lower axel/joint twists
3: front leg bends/folds

this new GEAR LEG design jumps out as having 2 glaring strikes against it at first blush(not withstanding that their shock probably is good idea..)

1: rear aluminum leg bend strength??
2: lower axel joint area has less twist strength, since it(at bottom of shock/AXEL?) does not incorporate the rear leg twist resitence..??? (think SKIS)

yes he shows nice DROP TEST...

but the NORMAL gear leg failure mode is NOT from a DROP, it from a backward force, or a inward side load, or axel twist....

Chicken Hawk said:

I wonder how much "constructive criticism" & negative press the AOSS system got before finally being accepted?......then again, maybe that contributed to it being as good as it is. I applaud innovation & those who take the risk.

Click to expand...

There are a couple of threads here on it.

I wonder what the load paths are. They had to change. This is a Savage Cub but could it be adapted to a certified Super Cub without structure changes to the fuselage?

can someone educate me on the advantage of extreme positive camber (wheels hanging bottom in)? +2 for more info on unsprung weight, how the gear behaves in conditions other than turf w/800's, skis, 29", 35", etc.

We are thrilled to have such an interest for our Alaskan LG and will try to answer your questions as accurately as we can:

- Can I keep my 35''s ? => You can keep them but the target of this gear is to soak up the bumps and allow you to use 31''s and reduce weight, drag and price...
- Can I use skis ? => For the first type of gear that will be certified for the PA-18 at the end of 2016 the answer is no, but the ski installation is the next step of the development
- What is the MSRP ? => The introductory price will be $10k including 6'' wheels, brakes and master cylinders.
- Why using floating discs on the brakes ? => This is an innovative technology that we have been using for 30 years (originally developped for racing cars and motorbikes), they allow the disc the expend when it heats up to avoid any crack or bending. The wheel is protected by stainless steel clips, replaceable every 10 years.
- What is the wheel camber when the gear is fully extended ? => The max misalignment of the wheel is 4.3” per side, with a full vertical travel of 12'' = 20° of max slope
- Why is the ALG tested on a Savage Cub on ramps rather than on a SuperCub in real tough conditions? => The target of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozhqj5pWBqY) is to make a scientific and objective comparison between the original technology (machine-welded with bungees) and our technology (aluminum with oleo pneumatic shocks). As it is very hard to obtain accurate results in real conditions (with same airplane, same speed, same obstacle, ...) we have decided to make these ramps and install precise aerobatic G-meter in each cockpit to gather these interesting results : the airframe has to withstand 3 TIMES LESS efforts with the Alaskan Landing Gear than with the original one, which we believed is a huge advantage !
- Is the ALG strong enough to withstand Alaskan use ? A standard gear is rated to absorb a non-flaired landing of 700FPM, ours has been calculated for 1000FPM with 22'' tires (so much more with 31''s).

We will have the ALG on a SuperCub in December and will fly it in tougher conditions, we will keep you posted obviously.

The ALG will be presented in Anchorage at the end of April for those who want to check on it.

Our email address for any question: sales@beringer-aero.com

Are the load paths different with this gear opposed to standard gear and if so does the airframe require any modification?

I will chime in and ask a couple basic questions:

Will a person be able to use their old clevelands? Many of us have extra rims that we use for smaller tires, so would not want to have to buy two sets of new rims.

Are you willing to do the testing again with blunt obstacles, like a 4x4, 6x6, or with 31's an 8x8 and see how they fare hitting that at 25 mph? Please video that!

We all know that drag is big with standard gear, have you considered using an oblong tube shell to reduce cruise speed drag?

How many dealers will you have here in the states, and how many parts will they have on hand? One advantage to our current set up is that everyone has at least one set, if not two, extra in their garage, so getting repaired and home is fairly quick right now.

Are the shock pressures adjustable?

Thanks, and maybe send a couple sets to some of our guys to try out for the winter... maybe we get some feedback from working planes?

Beringer Alaskan Landing Gear

A new video from Beringer with their gear on a full size cub. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTuuN4hOyM

Nice folks at Beringer. The production quality of their gear seems high at first glance, but they will have to do a little better with the production of their sales media. Calling their gear, "Alaskan Gear", and then showing 3 Cubs flying through the air, landing on smooth grass strips, and driving over 8" plywood ramps does nothing to convince me that their gear will hold up to day in and day out boonie smashin, much less cough up $10K for the opportunity to find out it won't hold up. When Dan Default built his tail wheel spring, he handed out several to Cub drivers around the country and basically said, "see if you can break these". When Steve Kracke of Atlee Dodge was developing his carbon fiber skis, he handed out several pairs to wolf hunters in Alaska. He knew that nobody would abuse those skis more than somebody trying to make a living gunning wolves - he was right. It's pretty easy to find out what works and what won't, and there are plenty of people willing to try... Just sayin......

I agree, it would be interesting to see a couple Alaskans test out the alaska gear. The video is not too impressive but at least they finally put it on a full size airplane. Now they need beat the crap out of it. The price appears to have come down. They say it doesn't need safety cables, sounds like a bad idea.

eskimo77 said:

They say it doesn't need safety cables, sounds like a bad idea.

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Again, with all due respect to a company that is trying to infuse new technology into our old school planes; how do they know that they don't need safety cables?? I can see the smirk on Atlee's face as I type this.

Show us a video with it landing sideways in the rough. Do you think that they will tuck under? Personally I would prefer that the initial impact was on the center of the tire with the loads symmetrically distributed through the wheel into the landing gear, like a stock Cub. These tires will wear the edges and sidewalls first like the spring geared Cessnas which when mishandled can tuck under more making directional control more difficult..

Alaskan Landing Gear - Testing session in Alaska on a Super Cub !
Freshly released => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEflC9fGIjM

The ALG has been tested on a Super Cub with 35s in Alaska on mud, sand, water, rocks, gravels,asphalt, ...
Check it out => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEflC9fGIjM

I merged these into one thread this morning since they were almost the same.

sj

Not sure there was any of those rocks that a guy could not use 8:50x6 tires on. Looked like the biggest rock landed on was smaller than a baseball.

Again, real test please, tundra with holes. Show a measuring stick to show depth of holes, rocks softball size and 31s. Not many of us run 35s to really compare.

I like the concept, but still don't see a real 'bush' test here. Nice flying, but not a real test.

aktango58 said:

Not sure there was any of those rocks that a guy could not use 8:50x6 tires on. Looked like the biggest rock landed on was smaller than a baseball.

Again, real test please, tundra with holes. Show a measuring stick to show depth of holes, rocks softball size and 31s. Not many of us run 35s to really compare.

I like the concept, but still don't see a real 'bush' test here. Nice flying, but not a real test.

Click to expand...

Videos are coming, be sure that we are making them and will post about it very soon !