I have first hand experience that braking is hard on tires. This
past Sunday while instructing a student pilot in short filed landings,
and after cautioning him not to skid the tires with the brakes, he
skidded the tires and promptly blew out the left main. Ruined
the rest of the day dealing with that. He just froze on the brakes
and I couldn't get him off the pedals quick enough. Rubbed a
silver dollar sized hole in the tire and tube.


"John Galban" wrote in message
om...
(Dan Thomas) wrote in message
. com...
An old jet jock told me that the tires on the heavies are worn
more by braking than by the touchdown.

I'd tend to agree with that. I've been through quite a few main gear
tires over the years, but only 1 nose tire. And that nose tire was
replaced because of sidewall cracking. The tread was still in
excellent shape. I think that all that braking is tough on those
little tires.

I have a friend that wore out a set of mains on his taildragger in
less than a year (about 130 hrs.). It was his first year with a
taildragger and he tended to use the brakes a lot to control his taxi
speed. He's much better at it since he got the tire bill.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)