And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The wheels are attached to a long piece of spring steel that extends forward and then pivots downward to place the wheel below the float. A hydraulic cylinder or linear actuator is hidden inside each float. Here's a video of one taxiing up the ramp so you can see the wheels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dTTR7uTIIo It's a Cessna 208 Caravan on Wipaire 8750s, the Wipaire website has some photos but unfortunately no retraction/extension videos. Al_in_Ottawa
Prior to making contact with terra firma the pilot extends the gear below the floats. These may be electric, but I've seen a manual hydraulic pump in the cockpit for that purpose.
These look like beaching gear. There should be another wheel below each float that also extends to allow the plane to be pulled out of the water for maintenance or storage.
Hi Surly, I worked on floatplanes in the '80s and '90s. These are amphibious floats which are not often used on revenue aircraft, amphibs are heavy which reduces the payload and hence profits. Beaching gear stays in the toolshed until it is needed and then is bolted or clamped to the gear when necessary. One of the DHC Beavers I worked on had a cross-wise tube in each float that the beaching gear axle passed through. Nowadays a dolly attached to a pickup or tractor is driven into the water and lifts the plane by the spreader bars. A friend-of-a-friend used to work at Seair using this rig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNpSPJn5dk Al_in_Ottawa
pardon my ignorance but how do those tires/wheels work ?
ReplyDeleteThey're High-Flotation tires...
DeleteThe wheels are attached to a long piece of spring steel that extends forward and then pivots downward to place the wheel below the float. A hydraulic cylinder or linear actuator is hidden inside each float. Here's a video of one taxiing up the ramp so you can see the wheels.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dTTR7uTIIo
It's a Cessna 208 Caravan on Wipaire 8750s, the Wipaire website has some photos but unfortunately no retraction/extension videos.
Al_in_Ottawa
Prior to making contact with terra firma the pilot extends the gear below the floats. These may be electric, but I've seen a manual hydraulic pump in the cockpit for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteThese look like beaching gear. There should be another wheel below each float that also extends to allow the plane to be pulled out of the water for maintenance or storage.
ReplyDeleteHi Surly, I worked on floatplanes in the '80s and '90s. These are amphibious floats which are not often used on revenue aircraft, amphibs are heavy which reduces the payload and hence profits. Beaching gear stays in the toolshed until it is needed and then is bolted or clamped to the gear when necessary. One of the DHC Beavers I worked on had a cross-wise tube in each float that the beaching gear axle passed through.
DeleteNowadays a dolly attached to a pickup or tractor is driven into the water and lifts the plane by the spreader bars. A friend-of-a-friend used to work at Seair using this rig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNpSPJn5dk
Al_in_Ottawa
Al, Thank you for all your aviation related comments. I've learned a lot.
Delete