Hi Justin. Got a 53 180. Have 29s now time for new ones soon. The 31s look like a great tire. Curious on Airspeed loss. Currently i can get about 140 MPH at 23 square don’t want to lose to much speed. Thanks for your reply
@Artiscrafty first off are you running a PPonk or O-470? Cuff kit or vgs? I currently get 136 with my PPonk/cuff/ vgs (all very draggy) and 31”s but I’m thinking you’re not going to see much loss. But I’m a huge fan of 31”s, my absolute worst landings still feel like landing on a cloud! Only thing to remember is to take care of them, check out my other video on bushwheel maintenance. Fly safe Justin-
The big 31s have made your 180 much more useful for your Alaska flying, but still there is at least one trade offs to be considered. What was your cruise speed penalty? How much added weight vs OEM wheels/tires?
Thats great, wonder if belly pod makes a difference. Myself and band of Skywagon buddies all lose a solid 10mph from 8.50 to ABW 31’s. Thats on either 470 or 520 powered planes, had both engines on my ship with same result. Have run 2 sets of 29s and on 4th set of 31s on 59’ wagon, get around 600 hours outta reg tread and 800 with heavy tread. Thats on mostly gravel n grass, but dont shy away from pavement at all. Wish Bill n Wup were still sellin em, they were the best!
Hey thanks for the comment! Your 185 was probably a beast! I only have about 6-7 hours in a 185 with a IO-520, but the one thing that really stands out to me was how heavy the controls felt to me vs the 180 (very light)
Yes you're right about that for sure. The early models like mine were more like your 180 on the control pressure. The p-ponk is a nice conversion in 180. Sweet airplane and you fly it well.
Well I’ll tell you I love the PPonk 100%, but it wasn’t something I did for fun, had a engine failure a few years back and that’s when I had to ask myself what kind of engine do I wanna fly for the next 20 years? 230hp or 300hp? I decided to pony up, and it’s been no regrets since!
@@justinsalaskanadventures yeah that's a good move. Don't need everything but there are some things that are certainly worth the money. Especially over the long term. It's nice to have the extra power available when needed.
