What are the advantages/disadvantages of rubber tires over foam? We have a grass runway and I'm wondering what's the best. It's mostly smooth, though a little choppy in some areas.

last longer and cant roll off the hub the disadvantage is if you land on pavement becasue there harder you will get more bounce foam tires make a (semi) bad landing look smoth.. but i dont think this changes anything on grass?

Rubber tires are more durable, but heavier than foam, and they look better. If weight is an issue, stay with the foam wheels, just replace them when they start to look worn or chopped up.

Depending on the size of the plane there are also inflatable rubber tires. I use the Dubro 4" inflatables on my Super Stearman. With the air let out they actually help reduce bouncing.

Some foam tires develop flat spots when the model is on the shelf.

My nexstar had a nice flat spot on the front wheel right out of the box. Looks horrible rolling on pavement but on grass no one can tell.

I build foam chocks that also support the airplane at the fuselage for some aircraft that won't fit in my cradle. This way much of the airplane's weight is on the support and not on the gear/tires.

Nitro planes I only use rubber tires. 1/2A scale I will use foam.

That and looks are my only faults with the foam. I just checked and my models are about 50/50 foam vs rubber/plastic/vinyl. My 13 pound GP Ultimate has foam wheels (but I store it on a Robart cradle). Foam is lighter and that can make a difference in 3-D or high speed models.

Would weight of rubber tires be much of an issue on a Phoenix Dolphin? Was thinking rubber tires would look better, although also thinking about adding heavier gear too (1/8" rod up to duraluminum gear).

I like foam on our grass runway. It allows me to have a larger diameter wheel that adds very little, if any, weight. They look odd, but I am more interested in safe take offs and landings than looks. None of my planes are scale, they are good utility flyer. In fact, I just bought three new foam ligheweight wheels for my Skylark 70 for the very reason that the field is grass and rather bumpy. The larger diameter wheels gets the prop a tad higher than the grass and my take off's and landings are much smoother because of it.

CGr.

For those with flat spots : mine come right out when the plane rockets down the runway for take off

Steven

It won't make a difference unless you put on say 4" tires. I use 3 and 3 1/4" on all my planes. If your grass isn't really long, you can put on some wheel pants, and they make the plane look finished. I keep them colored light, so that I can see them easily, and the contrast helps me to smooth out landings as I can see them as they approach the grass.