Goodyear Flight Special II 18x5.5 (PN 185F81-1)
 

Gang, after a couple phone calls and some google-fu this morning (March 21,2022) the chance of getting a tire in a hurry is grim. Apparently, COVID and supply chain issues are the reason for the delays. If this is old news, my apologies.

Textron: $273 each, no stock in Wichita, the computer says shipping in late April 2022.

aircraftspruce: $298 ea, out of stock, computer says expect to ship in Sep 2022.

wilkersonaircrafttires.com: $239, out of stock, expect to ship summer 2022
--these guys will also re-tread your core for $220 in about 15 days turnaround.

shop.dresser.com: $294 ea, out of stock, expecting shipment of 45 tires (22 backorders to fill) in July 2022.

aerobase: $590 each, computer says ships in 105 days (3.5 months)

goodyearaviation.com: ha. site says to go find a distributor or FBO retailer. good luck.

ebay: nada.

I thought I would try some of my lessor-known suppliers, but after a few inquiries it was clear to me that these tires aren't available right now from anyone.

Might be time to consider another make and model of tire? :confused:

Went with a 18x5.5 Goodyear flight eagle a couple months back. Way more quality than is needed, but was able to source.

Those are the same tires as specified for 20-series Learjets landing at 120 knots. I would imagine they would last for a good while on a Skymaster!

Goodyear Aviation Tire Care Guide Link
 

I thought this might be of some educational value to the group.

https://www.goodyearaviation.com/res.../tirecare.html

I couldn't get the actual 2.77Mb PDF to upload, so this is a link to download the PDF.

Also: preferred airparts has two new, old stock 18x5.5 on eBay as of 6/17/2022. Search for “185F81-1”

Update 2023
 

Another update (Oct 2023): shipped old casing to Desser in Sept 2023, they retread-ed it and shipped it back late Oct 2023 for $174 total.

Update:

Ordered a main tire from aircraftspruce in march 2022. It shipped and arrived in June 2023.

Was $298 when ordered, but they charged me $360 when it shipped.

YMMV

-LJ