Seaplanes North Extended Gear Review

[Renegade]

I returned to Alaska this summer to fly a beaver on floats for a fishing lodge. Since my wife had never made the trip we decided to take the Husky and camp along the way. This makes the fourth round trip the Husky has made to Alaska without a hitch. I have been itching to put extended gear on the plane for years and finally decided to go for it. I contacted Jeff at Seaplanes North and they got everything set up for me to do the gear swap in the two days of downtime that I would have in Anchorage. They even arranged to have the gear painted to match the plane.

I was due for new bungees and new SGS anyway so those were installed at the time of the swap. Though the gear is still the Husky design it is very apparent looking at it that it is much stronger than the stock gear and the workmanship is excellent. Taxiing and takeoff it is hard to tell any difference at all other than having to stretch just a little more to see. On landings the new gear was really eye opening. Husky's can hardly be described as twitchy to begin with but what little there was absolutely disappears. You can bring the plane in with a much higher sink rate and the gear would rather squat than bounce. It also soaks up bumps and ruts way better than stock gear, seems to plough right through them with very little input needed by the pilot. I was worried about speed loss from the lack of fairings but in the end it seemed like a couple knots at most. I considered it a 100 knot plane with 31's and stock gear and still consider it a 100 knot plane.

For those of you looking at extended gear I can't speak highly enough of this setup. I can't think of anywhere that you can physically take a Husky that I wouldn't be comfortable taking this gear, whereas I was constantly worried about it stock.

One more shoutout for Jeff and Keith at Seaplanes North. They did a fantastic job and even took several hours on a Saturday to fix a small fitment issue I had. Great people, a great shop and a great product.

 

[joemcd]

I really want to go this direction as well. Would you mind elaborating on the fitment issue? It would not deter me at all since it sounds like it was handled very well. I am just curious because I would be installing in the lower 48.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Ak Kurt]

Im waiting for the shock gear version. Talked to Jeff a couple years ago and they did not have a version built or approved for the shock version (2011or 2012 and newer).

Kurt

 

[Renegade]

The fitment issue was that the gear was catching on the body panels on either side that wrap around to the bungee cover doors. It was a tiny overlap, 1/10th of an inch or so and was not at all obvious till i was landing in some rougher stuff and having bigger gear deflections. I started hearing an oil canning/popping noise as the gear caught on the body panel. A little bit of trimming and it was all fixed. It may not be an issue at all on another Husky.

Jeff did talk about wanting to make the modifications for the shocks. Sounded like he needed somebody to send him a set of shock gear so that he could make the changes, but that he had not been able to dig up a set yet.

 

[GreggMotonaga]

On landings the new gear was really eye opening. Husky's can hardly be described as twitchy to begin with but what little there was absolutely disappears. You can bring the plane in with a much higher sink rate and the gear would rather squat than bounce. It also soaks up bumps and ruts way better than stock gear, seems to plough right through them with very little input needed by the pilot.

What do you think is the reason that slightly longer heavy duty tubing would have as much impact on the touchdown characteristics as you describe?

It would seem to me that the bungee system is the main reason for the bouncy landings in the Husky and you did not change that. The SGS does help with the recoil problem but you already had the SGS. Or perhaps your SGS was so worn out that replacing it has made this much difference, but I'm having a hard time understanding why simply changing to extended HD gear would change the feel of the landing. I don't think that it is HD tubing because I changed from stock gear to HD (standard length) gear and there was no change in the characteristics on landing. I would be surprised then if it were simply the added length that provided that much benefit.

 

[Renegade]

I think it is a combination of several things.

First, there seems to be less camber on the gear. The Bushwheels look like they sit flatter on the ground, and since they are pointing straight that might contribute to a decrease in twitchiness.

Second, the tires being further out make the plane feel much more planted and stable. Bumps or any side loads from crosswinds or making turns with the tail up don't seem to effect the plane as much and I think that is because of the wider stance.

Thirdly, I think the plane is less likely to bounce because of the extra length of the gear itself. The bungees are still there but they are the same strength as before and they are being acted upon by a longer lever. This makes it easier for the gear to move with bumps that it might not have before. It also means that the bungee has to move that longer lever with the bush wheel attached back down, which will happen more slowly and make the plane less likely to bounce. It would be like having a big person and a little person on a seesaw and making the side with the little person a foot longer than it used to be. The bigger person may still be able to lift the little person but it is going to be harder to do and also harder to make them change direction back the other way.

I was honestly surprised on how much different the plane felt afterwards. I was just looking for some extra strength and prop clearance. What I ended up getting was an extra notch of confidence in my aircraft. I can land much more confidently in places that I used to have to fight it a little bit to keep the plane straight because of uneven ground and bumps. Now it just walks right through it.

 

[GreggMotonaga]

Interesting. I cannot even imagine how much you would like the extended gear on the cub-style gear with AOSS. It's ridiculous.

 

[tbienz]

Here's a photo of a Husky with the extended gear and 850's next to one with stock gear and G26 tires. Gives you a feel for how they differ.
The gear is really overbuilt compared to my old stock A-1 gear but probably doesn't differ as much from some of the later gear.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

I like the much wider gear. How much does it lift the fuselage compared to the stock gear?

 

[tbienz]

Both those planes in the photo are now on 31's for the summer. I'll try to measure the distance from the underside of the fuselage at the gear doors down to the hangar floor. The gear legs are each 3" longer than the original. As you can see on the photo, they have a shallow angle and most of that 6" probably contributes to a wider track rather than a higher stance. I'm guessing it raises the plane by around 1 to 1.5 inches. I'll post after I've had a chance to measure them.

 

[Renegade]

I measured the increase before and after. Just took me a min to figure out where I wrote it down. The gear put an extra 6 1/2 inches between the wheels and gave an extra three inches of prop clearance. This is with the bushwheels at the same tire pressure on consecutive days.

 

[tbienz]

Good to know. Although from a purely geometric perspective, that's hard to understand.

 

[John Young]

Do you still like the gear? I just picked up a 2001 A-1B that needs new gear due to a ground loop. I'm considering pulling the trigger on a set and wanted to make sure it's the mod I want to make. Is there anything else that's needed for the mod other than longer brake lines? I also am considering the SGS kit as well.

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome!

Thanks,
John

 

[tbienz]

Yes, I've had no problems with the gear. Now in my third season on skis. If I had it to do over again, I'd make sure I have the slightly stiffer bungees because of the added load due to the wider track. In reality, I might already have those bungees, but I never checked to make sure that's what was sent with the gear because I didn't know there was more than one type for the Husky. On tundra tires, the plane is not at all twitchy when landing over rocks and bushes and doesn't feel as tippy as it used to feel. Added clearance helps. As they say, it's "Atlee tough." All hardware from original gear fit new gear, but I have to say that the transition was a bit of a PITA.
The new taller gear from Aviat certainly gives more clearance than my Seaplanes North extended gear (albeit with lesser track), but it appears to be thinner gauge steel and definitely has narrower diameter tubes so it might be a bit less sturdy, not sure. I've sat in a plane that has the new Aviat extended gear and it seemed (for me) too difficult to see out over the cowling for backcountry ops...but I'm only 5'11, that plane's pilot is much taller than I and it works well for him.

 

[Larson]

I have a set of these gear legs, but I have not installed. The aircraft is going back onto floats this month...
I must say dealing with Jeff was a pleasure. Highly recommend the service and support
Will report once I've installed!

 

[John Young]

Thanks for the notes back. It looks like it's the right move---especially since I need to replace the gear anyway. I'll report back as soon as I have this thing back in the air!

 

[John Young]

A couple of other quick questions for the group.

How was the quality of the welds on the gear and also did you have to add anything additional? I was told that the welds weren't as good as they could be and that I might have to add an additional brace after install that's not part of the STC. In addition, I was told the axles may not be as strong as well as the upper tube attach points.

Just trying to get the facts straight as it's a major investment in shipping two directions if they aren't up to snuff.

Thanks again for any input!

 

[johnaz]

I believe all welding is done by Atlee Dodge group for the Seaplanes North gear, they do perfect work.
John

 

[John Young]

Thanks John...that was my impression as well!

 

[tbienz]

I have no idea where that rumor came from. The welds are done by Atlee; both Seaplanes North and Atlee were very responsive to my questions about modifications to accommodate skis. All welds looked excellent. I hired a machine shop to weld the required fittings onto the extended gear to accommodate the RF8001 skis and he also inspected the construction and found it excellent.