[Mavi Gogun]

In a recent thread, reference was made to modifying the Wills Wing base bar wheel bracket by the addition of pneumatic wheels. Any info on this would be great. Pictures would be even better. Or you could just send me a couple.

[blindrodie]

And I asked you what type of base tube you had and got no answer.

There are a number of different wheel and hub types available. If you told us what type of control bar you have people might be more inclined to help you out...

[Bobfly]

I don't believe there is a mod to add pneumatic wheels onto the WW wheel bracket itself. I think the idea is to do away with that bracket and wheels altogether and switch over to a set-up meant to mount directly onto the litespeed base bar itself such as these (see pic). I could be wrong (happens all the time ) but large wheels mounted on those brackets would put a huge twisting load on the base bar upon landing.

[Mavi Gogun]

I'm kinda scared that the wheels pictured will be the latest in a long line that blow apart under lateral pressure; there was a related wheel posted on OZ last weak- a bit more robust looking... and purple. I always wondered about the Wills' wheel bracket stock, let alone modded, Bob- seems like they were designed to bend the base bar. Any opinion on them? Think they could take a small pneumatic? (Stokes alluded to as much in another post)

[pjwings]

I have conjectured that the WW mount is designed intentionally to provide a moment around the base bar that would assist in keeping the wheels from digging in and the nose from whacking over. In other words putting weight down on those wheels is going to cause the glider to want to rotate back bringing the keel down onto the ground.

That said, now that I own a set and have seen them up close, I can't imagine that the wheels themselves would do much good for a wheeled landing. Even in a nice smooth grassy LZ they're just too small and hard to really roll in on. I think of them as more of a safety against the base bar digging in too hard if I do end up mis-timing the flare and sliding one in and similarly as a safety against the base bar digging in if I somehow touch ground while aero-towing off a cart.

[Mavi Gogun]

Here's a non pneumatic mod of the WW bracket by Tracy Tillman:

[Rick M]

[pjwings]

Well I'm quite glad to hear it! I bought them thinking that if WW is selling them with their gliders they must be good. Then when I installed them I thought they looked too small to really do much good and I started regretting getting rid of my pneumatic wheels. Hearing your first hand testimony is reassuring.

[jjcote]

It depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you want to do a towed takeoff from your wheels with no cart, that will require some pretty fancy wheels. But even Hall wheels will act as skids and help keep the corners of the control frame from digging in suddenly, so they're better than nothing (which, to be honest, is what I've been using for the past few years -- no wheels).

[Bobfly]

Thanks Mavi. I believe what John (Stokes) was saying was to get rid of the little WW wheels as soon as possible and install something like the woosh wheels. He's mentioned this to me before. I too, slid in on the little white wheels once and I'm not talking about a little skidder either. I had to force my Freedom onto the ground prematurely to avoid a disastrous overshoot into a propane tank/building. They worked fine although it was short grass on a nice prepared lz. I still intend to change them out because I think I got lucky.

[Spark]

[Mavi Gogun]

[Avnav8r]

[CHassan]

[jkjohnson]

The wheels are from John Deere, they are riding mower deck wheels. If you take the WW wheels off the bar and switch ends they will line up better on the frame. You will have to enlarge the mounting holes when you switch ends. I knocked out the blind nut out of the bracket and tapped the hole for the axel bolt. John Deere sells the wheels alone or with a axel kit. Axel Kit is about 17 bucks a wheel don,t for get to get 2! They work great. I sold the glider or I would add pics good luck!

[Spark]

[Phoenix]

[Mavi Gogun]