Bump!! It is getting to be that time of year again. For all the new guys/gals that heard Bushwheels are fine in snow. Doug was good enough to show you what a few inches can do. DENNY
And don't use as much brake force, as the longer gear will be more easily be able to nose it over due to the extra leverage.Think of a teeter totter. The further the one kid sits back the harder it is for the other kid to totter. When you add axle height you are shifting the CG back or moving the kid back. Back is better in a cub for keeping the tail down. The wheels are the fulcrum. Tire width probably does play a role in the wrong kind of snow and the bigger the tire the more width it has. Keep the power on big time to help keep the tail down. When I get the coinola I'm gunna try the 35s.
I think the higher your axle is the less chance is you'd flip over because you are effectively shifting the cg rearward the taller you sit. 35s would be better![/QUOT
One could think so but -- that is exactly the opposite to how it works the loner the arm the easier it is to flip if you have a stock gear and go to extended you will notice how much easier it is to lift the tail while braking. There is a great video on you tube of a guy with what looks like 12 inch extended gear at Hood strip flipping over as he applied brake. It's like the aircraft is the end of the Whip.
To push the large tire through the snow can sometimes be more drag than a small one, like pushing a bigger snow shovel I found that out the hard way. The application of full power saved me from flipping over while just dragging the strip that had grass sticking through the snow - it sucked me in and it stoped in about 50 some feet underI full power and full aft stick in a Maule M7, there I was and could not get enough speed for take of or control the plane to go straight in almost 18" of wet snow.
I did let most of the air out so the 31s so they were halve flat this makes a big flat spot on the bottom of the Tire and after taxiing back and forth a couple times it waddled itself to take of speed on top of the snow instead of digging in (an old timer told me that trick years ago) still works.
I always felt that the longer the gear, the longer the tell before going over center after starting from a tail low attitude.
Power counters the deceleration.
Rapid deceleration is the problem. Controlling deceleration is the solution.
The proper response to uncommanded rapid deceleration is to apply power and control the deceleration.