Must Have Tire Pump

[oisiaa]

I bought this for my mountain bike and only after I received it did I realize how absolutely perfect it is for the plane. Super compact and lightweight. The battery is plenty to top off tires many times while on the road away from your hangar. This is a 10/10 product for on-the-go tire pressure maintenance. 

For reference, it's almost exactly the size and weight of a GoPro camera. 

Just dial in the desired PSI and it will automatically shut off at that pressure. The small size and low pressure of our tires means that even going from a very low 20 psi up to 30 only takes about 30 seconds. 

Highly recommended: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9BPMYYR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Edited October 25 by oisiaa

[oisiaa]

BTW, thoughts on hub caps? Is there any benefit to having them on? 

[MikeOH]

2 hours ago, oisiaa said:

BTW, thoughts on hub caps? Is there any benefit to having them on? 

FWIW I haven't had them in the 8 years I've owned my F.  In fact, I didn't know hub caps even  were an thing until a thread here on MS a little while back educated me! With wheels retracted I can't imagine any effect whatsoever.  I can see an argument that on grass/dirt strips they would help keeping dirt out of the hub/bearings, but on concrete/asphalt I just don't see them making much difference...IMHO, anyway.

[DonMuncy]

But hub caps make a plane LOOK 10 knots faster. 

[oisiaa]

My thoughts too. It's a minor pain to take them off to check the pressure. I'm not worried about drag with the wheels down so aerodynamics plays no part. 

Edited October 26 by oisiaa

[Hank]

7 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

But hub caps make a plane LOOK 10 knots faster. 

Coy Jacob's used to advocate chrome hubcap, for additional visibility while banking. Same with chrome stall strips and spinner. But LED stripes, etc,, have made that unnecessary. 

When I first got my Mooney, mynA&P talked me out of any hubcaps, saying they heated up wheel bearings and made it difficult to inspect them.

[DonMuncy]

My hangar elf built my hub caps and put appropriately placed holes for checking the pressures. The holes are covered by "snap-in" plugs, and a tire stem extension used to connect the gauge.

[DonMuncy]

3 minutes ago, Hank said:

Coy Jacob's used to advocate chrome hubcap, for additional visibility while banking. Same with chrome stall strips and spinner. But LED stripes, etc,, have made that unnecessary. 

When I first got my Mooney, mynA&P talked me out of any hubcaps, saying they heated up wheel bearings and made it difficult to inspect them.

I admit that checking the pressure on the tires takes a couple of minutes longer than without hub caps. And adds maybe ten minutes to the time it takes to inspect the bearings, but I have a little difficulty with the "heating up the wheel bearings" concept.

[takair]

My E has dust caps on the main wheel bearings so I took my hub caps off. I’m lazy and it was preventing me from checking my pressures often enough. My nose wheel does not have a dust cap so I use the hub cap.  The main idea is to keep sand and moisture out of the bearings. Also helps keep excess grease from splattering. 
 

Cool little pump. I just know that when I need it the battery will be dead.  Have you tried inflating a flat tire….assuming no puncture?  Just curious the capacity to do that. Looks like they make a bigger one too.  

[201er]

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but how in the world would hub caps improve speed in cruise with retracted landing gear?? Looks like they might improve speed with gear down which is actually undesirable.

[oisiaa]

2 hours ago, takair said:

My E has dust caps on the main wheel bearings so I took my hub caps off. I’m lazy and it was preventing me from checking my pressures often enough. My nose wheel does not have a dust cap so I use the hub cap.  The main idea is to keep sand and moisture out of the bearings. Also helps keep excess grease from splattering. 
 

Cool little pump. I just know that when I need it the battery will be dead.  Have you tried inflating a flat tire….assuming no puncture?  Just curious the capacity to do that. Looks like they make a bigger one too.  

I haven't gone from flat, but based on what I've seen it should do it no trouble in probably about 60-90 seconds.

[wombat]

While I agree that this is a really cool little pump, when is the last time anyone here has had a low tire away from their home base airport that wasn't a complete flat that needed a tire or tube replaced?   

I've only been flying for about 16 years but I've never had it happen or seen it happen.

For me, I've had one flat tire away from home base (when I was trying to pick up a new-to-me airplane) but the tube was shot so no amount of air would have helped.

I've seen flat tires happen to two people away from their home base, but in both cases a tire inflator wouldn't have helped, they needed tools and parts as well (jacks, wrenches, tubes, tires)

 

If you tie down or hangar somewhere without power this might be useful, but I wouldn't take it with me on a flight.

[dkkim73]

I imagine this tiny pump would make it easier to do drive by (literally) tire checks. Eg. I have it on my list to take my compressor to the hangar but it's about 3 feet long. 

[Hank]

14 minutes ago, dkkim73 said:

I imagine this tiny pump would make it easier to do drive by (literally) tire checks. Eg. I have it on my list to take my compressor to the hangar but it's about 3 feet long. 

I have a little compressor in my hangar.

To use it, I need to carry it over beside the nose wheel, set it down, drag the extension cord over and plug it in, turn it on. Then I can do the nose wheel and one main wheel.

To do the other main wheel, I have to move the compressor around the nose without it coming up plugged or hitting my head & shoulder on the prop.

When finished, unplug the compressor, carry it back across the hangar, and drag the extension cord over and put everything away.

This little guy will eliminate all of the hassle! It's annoying to do all of this two or three times a year, usually for 5-8 psi each time. Im gonna look into these! It'll just live in the truck with my airport gate card and plane keys. And I can use it away from the airport, like on my golf cart . . . .

[dkkim73]

Hey all, I just bought one of these, and there's a roughly $7 coupon currently, so price is $39 ish now. 

(earning CB points with every 3rd post)

[DonMuncy]

18 hours ago, dkkim73 said:

Hey all, I just bought one of these, and there's a roughly $7 coupon currently, so price is $39 ish now. 

(earning CB points with every 3rd post)

Any idea about how robust it is? Do you think you could inflate 4 car tires in a row, from zero to 30 psi or so. 

[dkkim73]

47 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Any idea about how robust it is? Do you think you could inflate 4 car tires in a row, from zero to 30 psi or so. 

Still awaiting delivery. They have a smaller bike one that was originally recommended by the OP (the one I got). They also have a car unit that is bigger (battery primarily I would guess). 

[oisiaa]

1 hour ago, DonMuncy said:

Any idea about how robust it is? Do you think you could inflate 4 car tires in a row, from zero to 30 psi or so. 

Absolutely not. It would overheat and the battery would be drained on either the first tire or part way through the second. It's made for bicycles, but due to the small air volume and low pressure of our Mooney tires it works very well to add 5-10psi on cold mornings. It's an excellent and lightweight compressor, but not for cars. In a pinch it would work if you suddenly have a low tire, but not a primary solution. 

The battery could probably go 0-30psi on all 3 Mooney tires on a single charge, but that would be the limit. 

For reference I gain about 0.5psi per second on my 29" mountain bike tires. 

Edited November 4 by oisiaa

[varlajo]

1 hour ago, DonMuncy said:

Any idea about how robust it is? Do you think you could inflate 4 car tires in a row, from zero to 30 psi or so. 

No, it's not made for that. But it will easily add 5 psi to all four tires. 

[phxcobraz]

I have one similar to that for bike and OneWheel tires, works great, even works with a presta adapter. I like the idea but I know myself and it would be dead when I went to use it, forgetting to charge.

In the plane for longer trips I almost always throw in an M12 screwdriver and also carry an M12 inflator. I've used a single 4ah battery to go from 12-30psi on 4 car tires before.

[EricJ]

I bought the larger version with the bigger battery.    With a full charge it took less than two minutes to pump a 235/45-18 tire from 29.5psi to 35 psi.   It then only took a couple minutes to recharge to full.   That seemed like pretty good performance to me.    I got the bigger one to take offroad so it would have a reasonable chance of managing a truck tire.    I'd think Mooney tire would be pretty easy for it, perhaps even from flat.

[Tommooney]

I just got the tiny one in the op picture from Amazon and tried it. Impressive performance for size. Topped off all three tires quickly with plenty of battery remaining. Quickly recharged from my handsize phone battery backup. Ovation nose tire is 49psi. Its not for flats but could quickly add 10 psi to a low tire away from home.

I give it a thumbs up and it is going into my baggage compartment tool box.

[Paul Thomas]

I know my home airport has air at the SS fuel farm and I believe others around here do as well. Is that not a thing in other places?

[47U]

3 hours ago, Paul Thomas said:

Is that not a thing in other places?

Nope.  Not available at any airport that I’ve been to in NorCal…

[dkkim73]

Works like a charm. From a couple days ago. Won't let me upload the video, but you get the idea. Chugga chugga chugga. 

About 1/3 of charge (nominal) airing up my 3 tires after a couple months.