Raising wheel pants

[kmwoody]

There has been much discussion about tire size for the Sonex when flying off of turf. When I replaced my tires I decided to stick with the stock size because I do not land on turf much. I had never had problems but it seemed like the pants showed evidence of dragging slightly. This spring I landed on our grass (cross) runway and cracked my pants. Obviously the ground was still soft.
My question, has anyone raised their pants instead of opting for the bigger tires? It seems that a 1/2" to 1" would help immensely.

Ken W
Sonex 959
235 hrs

[andrewp]

Yes, and yes.

Raised them until I could just see the rims. Occasionally land on grass, so far so good.



Sorry for the crappy picture, but it was the best I had handy that I could crop (me pushing her out of the hangar)

AP
#618

[kmwoody]

Thanks Andrew, I will raise mine then!

Ken W

[andrewp]

I should also mention that just before I repainted them, I fiberglassed some aluminum strips to stop grass and stuff accumulating in the back of the pants. Someone wiser than me had warned me about this (Gus Schlegel?) to save your wheel pants from getting filled up with stuff. In his case I think he broke one when they filled with mud.

[kmwoody]

Thanks again Andrew, great information. I know mine have had grass accumulating in them. Mud would add extra unwanted weight also.

Ken W