Nerevar

About the plastic material the old WB wheels were made of.

I have an old (20+ years) plane with the Vintage wheels just over 4". This plane has had at least three engines worn out on it and the wheels have worn and had brass tubing used as bushings on the axles. The wheels, of course, keep wearing, and this means larger and larger tubing to make up the difference. These were the original wheels, or so I'm told.

For a weight and power reference point; The plane is now at, or slightly over, eight pounds, and powered by a 2 stroke .60.

The wheels are now getting to the point that any larger tubing will slip over the wheel collar. I suppose a washer could be used next time, but it would be nice to be able to just order a new set from Tower and retire these. They have served this plane well all this time, and longer than, how ever many engines did, that were on it.

I suppose that a nylon wheel might not wear like this plastic, but these aren't bad. Not bad at all! [sm=wink_smile.gif]
Of course no wear-out would be even better, if that's possible. [sm=lol.gif]

abufletcher

20 years without a blowout is a record for any tire! If you need a new set just give Daniel a call and he'll have a set out to you within a couple of days! And he's a great guy to deal with!

abufletcher

Here's an interesting color illustration from the 1918 Indian Motorcycle company.

smcouch77

I may be able to shed some light on the number of spokes per side on the Williams Bros wheels. Here is a picture of a wheel, without the covering. It has 32 spokes per side, but half of them are laced to the opposit side of the rim. So only 16 spokes would touch the covering.

smcouch77

Also, at least on this wheel, the spokes radiate straight out from the center.
Steve

abufletcher

Steve, can you give any information on the provenance of this rim? I assume it's of modern production. The Palmer Cord Aero Tyres used on WWI British aircraft definitely had 64 spokes radiating out from the hub. But it may be that some American company used the 32 spoke pattern.

smcouch77

This the rim from the french reproduction. It does have 64 spokes. 32 per side.
Steve

abufletcher

OK. I get what you're saying. There are 32 spokes per side but 16 would be "below" the others so wouldn't make an impression on the covering.

smcouch77

That's how it looks to me, anyway. Assuming the French did as good a job with their Full Scale Model as Bob did with his.
Steve

smcouch77

Hi Don. Where did you get the Flair wheels? I've been to several online hobby shops, but so far, no luck.
Steve

buzzard bait

I ordered Flair wheels from RadicalRC awhile ago when Wms Bros was down. Took awhile, but they got them to me. The differences explained are all on target.

Great to see the Williams line not only back, but improved!!

Jim