When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking tips

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CarbonBasedLifeForm
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When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking tips

Post by CarbonBasedLifeForm »

What surfaces are too dangerous for regular tires? Dirt runways? Can regular tires land on agricultural fields? How does the sim let you know you've pushed your regular tires too far?

Finally, does anyone have any tips on braking with tundra tires? I read the manual, which advises to make a three-point landing, but it seems like even at slow speeds and with short braking the plane wants to topple forward.

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Oracle427
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Re: When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking

Post by Oracle427 »

The brakes on the J-3 are there for making turns, parking, startup and run-up. I have never used them at any other point and certainly not for braking on landing on runways of around 1500 feet.

Anytime the runway surface has grass longer than 4" or loose uncompacted dirt I would use the large tires. The sim does not model the damage or risk of flipping over on rough ground. As a general rule, if anything firm can touch the axle, I want bigger tires.
Flight Simmer since 1983. PP ASEL IR Tailwheel
N28021 1979 Super Viking 17-30A

CarbonBasedLifeForm
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Re: When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking

Post by CarbonBasedLifeForm »

Oracle427 wrote:The brakes on the J-3 are there for making turns, parking, startup and run-up. I have never used them at any other point and certainly not for braking on landing on runways of around 1500 feet.

Anytime the runway surface has grass longer than 4" or loose uncompacted dirt I would use the large tires. The sim does not model the damage or risk of flipping over on rough ground. As a general rule, if anything firm can touch the axle, I want bigger tires.
Thank you. Is there a way in the sim to know if the grass is long or if there is loose dirt?

speedy70
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Re: When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking

Post by speedy70 »

Hi,
You are the Pilot in command.That is for you to decide.

Some airfield details will tell you the type of runway but for bush flying it is all done by the pilot's eye.Fly over first and have a look.You also have to look out for wildlife etc.

Cheers Chris

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Oracle427
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Re: When is it appropriate to use tundra tires? And braking

Post by Oracle427 »

It isn't modeled in the sim. Every airfield has perfect asphalt and freshly mown and dry packed turf.

IRL, you call ahead to get pireps before showing up and check recent weather.

You can make low passes and observe the height of the grass against objects of known sizes like vehicles, animals and other things that don't vary much in size.

Look for ruts, furrows, ponding of water out areas that vary in color as you definitely want to avoid those spots.

Before committing to a landing on a soft surface, touch down very gently in a slightly tail low attitude, keeping the power in and feeling the resistance of the surface. Be ready to add power as needed if the ground "grabs" and slows down the aircraft. This is risky in tall grass or very rough ground as you will likely flip over, you just need to avoid those altogether. Do this a few times and observe if the wheels cut tracks in the surface. Those may indicate that the surface is to soft to attempt an actual landing.

The actual landing is much like above except that you are the aircraft to slow down instead of climbing away. The idea is not to stop rolling or use any braking on soft ground as you might not be able to get going again. Always keep the stick full back one that tail settles down to protect against a prop strike.

Again, the sim does not model any of these environmental effects from the ground at all, so these comments are just to provide context.

PS - Last month, I was at an airport in my thankfully lightly loaded 182 a week after hard rains. The ramp was completely full and I was forced to park on the grass. I walked the area to check the firmness and it felt firm, but I managed to taxi right into a soft spot that I missed during my walk. The nosewheel dug in a couple of inches. Had I not had a 3 blade prop, I am fairly certain I would have had a prop strike. It took the help of 8 people to push up on the bottom of the wing spar to lift the aircraft up so we could push it out of the spot it was stuck in.
Flight Simmer since 1983. PP ASEL IR Tailwheel
N28021 1979 Super Viking 17-30A

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