"C Kingsbury" wrote

These things do happen, though mostly to small planes and not generally
fatal so they're not big news items.

Why doesn't this happen with airliners? I'll hazard the following guesses:

1. Thrust reversers provide braking power even if the tires have no grip
at
all
2. Landings are made in a straight line on a flat runway. It's curves and
hills that cause trouble on icy roads.
3. Weight-to-tire-area ratio: I'm guessing here, but it seems to me that
airliners put a lot of weight on a relatively small amount of tire area
compared to cars. This would improve traction.
4. Operator skill: Trained pilots vs. idiot/unskilled drivers

In my (limited) experience, you're lucky if the runway is cleared of
snow/ice better than the highways, especially during/after a large storm.

-cwk.

Add more factors.

Airplanes have aerodynamic surfaces that help maintain directional control,
especially at high speeds, where loss of control from lack of traction is
usually a problem for cars.

Airplane wheels are not powered, to make them lose traction during
acceleration. Also, brakes are not used much for stopping small planes on
long runways. If there is slush on a runway, it has the effect of slowing a
small plane, all by itself, with using even less brakes.
--
Jim in NC


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