I posted this last night on another thread but it seems more appropriate here in the mods thread.
Hi, I also love the look of tundra size tires on the Cub. I replaced the stock wheels on my SuperCub with a 2 1/2" similar foam pair but they aren't big enough to really look the part or help a lot when landing on a grassy soccer field. They're better but I'm looking for 4" minimum.
HOWEVER, after reading North_49's idea I remembered that I still have the stock wheels.
They look great on the Champ. A direct side view has them almost covering the landing gear and up near the fuse! I rushed the assembly so that I could get outside in the near darkness and light breeze to see how they worked. I love them! Each wheel is 6gm as compared to 1 gm so that's an extra 10gm but the Champ seems to handle it well, the CoG seems really close although it was getting dark and I didn't have enough time to even try trimming, even if it needs a little. The extra weight seems to make it more stable in the breeze - bonus! Landing was hurried and the grass is 3 or 4 inches so it may not help all that much.

Here's what I did. The hub on the larger wheel needs an axle spacer. I took a red WD-40 spray tube and slid a piece of shrink tubing on and heated it gently (3 seconds? ) until it was tight on the tube. Not shrunk, it's just a smidgen too big to slide into the Cub wheel. Slide in and trim flush with an xacto knife. The Champ landing gear wire is just a bit too short unless you chamfer the inner hub with a hand-held drill bit ( I used 13/64 but anything close would be fine) Slowly remove plastic until about 3mm of the axle shows through. When you remove the Champ wheels they are held on with little, easily lost, black buttons. I suggest working with good light on a piece of white paper on a table or a tray. Ask me how I know. The inner washer and outer retaining buttons look the same but are NOT. The inner ones are washers and free-spinning on the axle and the outer ones are retainers. Don't use the inner ones - just the outer retainers. I'm suspicious that the retainers may not be strong enough to hold the larger wheels and put a dab of CA on them and see. Since this photo was taken I've used a black marker to paint the hubs until a smaller white disk is visible and now they appear smaller and the tires bigger. The nice thing about this mod is being able to have multiple sets of landing gear - just pop them on and off

That looks cool Airhead. I've just completed putting together my third champ, did't want another stocker so it's been painted like an L16 (Korean War), and also has larger wheels for grass field flying.

Love the L birds.

I meant to post this last night but fell asleep

I made a second version of my bush/tundra tires/wheels yesterday from some Du-Bro Super Lite 2" wheels. First let me say that there was nothing really wrong with the T-28 ones... I just decided to take the diameter down a hair and round them off where the "tread" meets the sidewall to look more like the real ones and buggered one of them up making it smaller than I wanted in the process of trying to fix it. My local hobby store didn't have any more in stock so I bought the Du-Bro ones to use as a base to work on.


First, this is how my version 1 Parkzone T-28 tires turned out after I decided to shape them yesterday but wrecked one of them and the left one also ended up smaller trying to fix it...





Like I mentioned, my LHS was out of stock on T-28 landing gear to start over... could have bought the Hobbyzone 48" Super Cub wheels and reduced their diameter (same as T-28 wheels but taller) but this particular store was closing right away so I went to a different one and bought these...

DUB200SL
Super Lite Wheels - 2" (2)


... I bought ones that were larger than what I needed, with the intention to remove the tread and shape them down to what I wanted. If you remove the plastic hub you'll get a much more scale looking bushwheel with a smaller inner hole diameter to mount on smaller hubs... like the real ones

http://www.akbushwheel.com/

I ran the wheels on my belt sander using a drill bit as an axle and using the sander like a treadmill to spin the wheel while holding the sandpaper against the tire for tread removal and initial shaping which only took about 10 seconds. Then I finalized the shaping just by running them on the belt sander only.

The shaping process...






And the final result. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the gray color of the Du-Bro foam, but it's growing on me... looks weathered and more scale. I could take the diameter down a bit so they would look wider, like the real ones, but I think I'll leave them for now. Again, like my version 1.0 tires, I put them on right over the stock Champ wheels/tires for a more scale looking hub...

Originally Posted by peconic steam

Hi, first time posting on airplane threads.. I tried rc planes several years ago, with disastrous results. Started reading up on the Ember 2 and bought one; it's been micro park flyer fever ever since. Next was a Night Vapor, looking for something slow to land on our rc carrier, then a micro stik, to carry one of those 'gumstick' cameras around.. that worked out better than I anticipated. By far the most versatile purchase has been the Champ, which has proven to be the most intuitive and easy to learn on plane in my inventory. I've made a few mods: Never flew the Champ with stock wheels, instead opted for 1-1/4" dia. foam wheels from an old twin motor 'steer by shutting down one motor' plane. I've amassed about 9 batteries, and didn't want to velcro them all, so a rubberband holds them in the slot. I cut back the yellow fairings so they don't dig into the the fuse (as much) on those hard, blacktop basketball court landings. (Note the white 'beard'). Still flying everything else original after maybe 125flights.. Batteries range from 70 ('Vapor) to 190 mA Miniaviation. One terrific ounce of entertainment!

Welcome to the club peconic steam.. loving your avatar..

Chris..

Finally got the Champ up in the air, and fog, with a bit of wind up 75 feet or so and what I can say about the 1 7/8" SuperCub wheels is that the plane likes them. It knows there's 8 more grams down below and is a wee bit less nimble, but a wee bit more stable, and the motor can still speed it along without issues. I was using a Turnigy 160 25-40C Nano-Tech, if that makes any difference.
Landing on bumpy pavement is noticeably different - it sits down more quickly with more authority and less airy bounciness. If you do it right, flare a bit, and suspend your sense of surrounding scale, it really seems (from the videos) like landing the real thing with tundra tires! I also tried relatively smooth packed dirt road and unless I hit an obstacle like a pebble within the first 6 inches it was fine with full elevator and strong throttle. Landing on grass that's not a golf green - not so good... note to self: get to know the folks at the local course
I'd say that two things the big wheels affect are loops, if that's your thing, and low-speed banking. I did't want to loose it in the fog so didn't get the altitude for diving assist but with a short dive and pulling up the plane wants to roll out of it when inverted. Nothing squirrely and actually looks like a controlled manoeuvre. That may be those 8 gms way above the wing. With stock landing gear loops are more on demand. I also noticed that in a low bank it felt like I needed more throttle to prevent losing lift. I actually stalled it and it nosed in from all of 5 feet so no damage, but no time to recover! Your results may vary with weather and probably more skill than me.

Originally Posted by peconic steam

Hi, first time posting on airplane threads.. I tried rc planes several years ago, with disastrous results. Started reading up on the Ember 2 and bought one; it's been micro park flyer fever ever since. Next was a Night Vapor, looking for something slow to land on our rc carrier, then a micro stik, to carry one of those 'gumstick' cameras around.. that worked out better than I anticipated. By far the most versatile purchase has been the Champ, which has proven to be the most intuitive and easy to learn on plane in my inventory. I've made a few mods: Never flew the Champ with stock wheels, instead opted for 1-1/4" dia. foam wheels from an old twin motor 'steer by shutting down one motor' plane. I've amassed about 9 batteries, and didn't want to velcro them all, so a rubberband holds them in the slot. I cut back the yellow fairings so they don't dig into the the fuse (as much) on those hard, blacktop basketball court landings. (Note the white 'beard'). Still flying everything else original after maybe 125flights.. Batteries range from 70 ('Vapor) to 190 mA Miniaviation. One terrific ounce of entertainment!

pecon, here's a neat way to loose that rubber band. I found that the 9.5mm was a perfect fit for my Thunder Power and Hyperion batts. You only need to make up one for each batt size (i'm still unsure about the 550mah's). Slip on, use batt, slip off and onto a fresh batt.
Mike.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...ostcount=15824

Thanks Bluhammer

I agree with Airhead600cc's assessment. I think I even mentioned somewhere that you'll need to dive and build up some speed first for looping with the "big wheels." Most of my current damage, which includes a slightly loose motor, stems from performing that maneuver at too low of an altitude... so you'll also need some height. The cool thing about this little bird is none of my damage, including the loose motor, has affected the performance of this plane one bit, which is why I haven't even bothered fixing it yet... gotta love this thing With enough height, you can still pull double and even triple loops. Interestingly, the same bit of extra weight and inertia you need to overcome with the big wheels to get your loop started actually helps set it up for the next loop once you get over the top... but be aware that each subsequent loop will happen at a lower altitude than the previous one. The trick to looping is throttle management... knowing when you need to be on full throttle but, equally important, knowing at what part of the loop you need to cut it.

But I don't do much looping anyway, what I love about this Champ is how slow and scale I can get it to fly, with the stability of the "big wheels" adding to that effect ... I've had neighbors and people at my local park comment about it... have heard alot of "wow"s. My favorite thing to do with it is fly slow scale looking figure 8's a foot or two above the crops in the farmer's field right outside my back gate where I do most of my flying... that means it's actually below my head height. Airhead600cc mentioned the low speed banking... I guess I've just gotten used to automatically adding a bit of up elevator with my gentle low altitude turns... I've added 30% up ELE to my rudder over on the left stick of my DX6i (mixed my Champ's default right stick "aileron" over to the left for true mode 2 rudder operation) but, to be honest, I've learned bad 3-channel style habits from my first week using the Champ's stock Tx and have been yawing it around with the right stick... so I've learned to just add that bit of up ELE with my right stick yaws without really thinking about it. Even with the bushwheels, I can get this thing flying so slow my 10 year old niece can run after it and almost catch it My latest fun thing to do is landings with a completely powered off glideslope but adding a tiny bit of throttle and up ELE once I'm at a few feet of altitude on my approach with a flare just within inches of touching down... and not killing the throttle completely until the wheels are on the ground... soooo scale looking

Another fun thing... get it up high, point it into any breeze (even on a dead calm evening or morning there's usually some up there) and completely kill the throttle... notice how long you can glide around up there like that... which is also saving battery!

Hey North, I'm just coming up for air. I meant to post a picture of my "Bush" wheels you helped me out with. I like the new one you did. The grey doesn't look bad. But I prefer the deep black

Hey, what's that on the starboard side leading edge? He must think he's getting a free ride...he's ready for takeoff

Mike.

PS: Windshield is fine. Just the sunlight..

Originally Posted by Chap1012

Hey North, I'm just coming up for air. I meant to post a picture of my "Bush" wheels you helped me out with. I like the new one you did. The grey doesn't look bad. But I prefer the deep black

Hey, what's that on the starboard side leading edge? He must think he's getting a free ride...he's ready for takeoff

Mike.

PS: Windshield is fine. Just the sunlight..

Hey, man... was just asking you over in another thread if you flew it yet

Yeah I was thinking if I wanted to blacken the gray Du-Bro foam I could probably RIT Dye it

Yes, the orange-yellow seems to be a magnet for all kinds of mini airborne critters in the farmer's field out behind my place in the evenings. 2 nights ago I also almost had a run in with a seagull ... "holy crap, did you see that!" my neighbor said

... I swear I saw the wings tilt


Your Champ is looking familiar... like mine before all my crashes on pavement! What's the white I see under the cowl?

Originally Posted by North_of_49

<SNIP>
Your Champ is looking familiar... like mine before all my crashes on pavement! What's the white I see under the cowl?

I thought nobody would notice/ask. It's a return address sticker you put on postage. I use it in hopes I get it back if I have to leave it in a tree and it falls out while I'm gone. Has "Reward" and "tele. #" too My outdoor helis are marked the same.

Mike.

Originally Posted by Chap1012

I thought nobody would notice/ask. It's a return address sticker you put on postage. I use it in hopes I get it back if I have to leave it in a tree and it falls out while I'm gone. Has "Reward" and "tele. #" too My outdoor helis are marked the same.

Mike.

I do the same thing on my planes. Address return is quick and easy too.

Originally Posted by Chap1012

I thought nobody would notice/ask. It's a return address sticker you put on postage. I use it in hopes I get it back if I have to leave it in a tree and it falls out while I'm gone. Has "Reward" and "tele. #" too My outdoor helis are marked the same.

Mike.

Right... I've been meaning to do that... gonna stick it in the belly cavity. Almost too little too late after taking it work earlier this week and putting it 30ft up in a spruce tree. I ride around on a Toro cutting city parks and made sure I stayed in and cut this particular park that day so I could keep an eye on that tree all day (the block of wood I tied to some twine and threw up into the tree to hook and shake the branches didn't work). The wind gradually picked up and I noticed at one point I couldn't see my plane up there anymore... rode over to the base of the tree and there it was on the ground. I have pics and video taken with my iPod

Argh, seeing all those nice pics while having to wait another week is like torture.

On a side note, I guess I have the best local hobby shop ever!
Went there today, knowing they have the UM Mosquito in stock, hoping they'd let me unpack it and have a look at the wheels.
As expected, they did (the wheels look nice).
What I didn't expect is the owner saying "You don't have to buy wheels unless you really, really want to.
Why don't you wait until you have the bird, bring it over and we'll take a look in our big "landing gear & wheels odds & end box", we'll find something."
I almost hugged her!

Well, last evening I had another one of those great flying sessions. Got the Champ up in the air and walked down the road, flying it, and discovered a great flying spot. I say discovered because though I had been there many times, this was the first time there with flying in mind. Flew it back home with the fog closing in and spitting rain and flew it low and slow around the yard. As I made close passes water was dripping from those big foam wheels and the plane was covered in droplets. Boy I like this plane.
Well, on Saturday I had sold the Stinson Reliant and had some cash just sitting in the wallet, doing nothing, needing to be converted into fun. Got talking to the guy I sold it to and he also had a Champ and told me that another LHS had started to carry planes ( they were exclusively cars before ) so dropped by and it was like a candy store. The only micro I think they didn't have was the Mosquito. They had all the planes I had thought about over the last year, the Merlin, Radian, T-28, UM T-28... Well, I had thought I'd get the UM T-28 but came home with a brand-spanking NEW Champ! Mine wasn't new when I got it and I just couldn't resist. The heir and the spare. Most certainly a sweet bush plane in the works. Oh, and I ordered an 808 #16 camera...