Sudden Flat Tire

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 16:14:12 -0400, wrote:

The instructor had a pressure guage with him and admonished
me to keep one with me at all times myself.

I have a bicycle pump with a gauge on it in the cargo part of my plane. I
fly to some airports that are unattended and while there may be a self
serve fuel pump, air is not an option.

I check the pressure once a week on my plane. Not unusual to lose 2 pounds
or so in an extended period of idle time, and the bicycle pump takes less
then 15 seconds to get the tire back up to speed.

Allen

"Kevin Kubiak" wrote in message
...
Strange thing happened to me earlier this week (monday).
I flew from home base at KUGN to KDBQ with a friend
for a quick stop and then we were planning to fly up the Mississippi
to look for some fall colors.

Had a nice clear day with light winds. So we land at DBQ, I taxi over to
the
FBO for a quick pit stop. Got back in the plane, got ATIS, contacted
ground and
given taxi instruction to 36. So I'm # 2 in line, just finish mag check
and
now I'm # 1. Start to move forward and seemed like the pedals were hare
to
steer. I quickly think I got a flat nosewheel, and shut down the engine,
worried
that I might strike the prop. Anyway, contact ground told them on problem
and
plane behind me says yep it is flat.

FBO sends a truck to fill the tire, but the air rushed out almost as fast
as it
entered. SO we now need a tow back to FBO. 2.5 hrs later I have new
tire and
tube and we are off back to KUGN. Luckily I take the old tire & tube
back.
Since the plane is owned by the club I'm a member in.

The general manager said I will be reimbursed for the repair, but was
curious
about the flat. I was too since the tire looked to be relatively new.
In fact it was only replaced 2 weeks prior. The problem apparently was
that
some of the steel cord must have popped up through the tires sidewall and
punctured the tub. If you rub your hand over the inside you can feel the
steel
wire protruding through the sidewall.

Does this kind of thing happen frequently. Did I over react by shutting
down
the engine, but I was really did not want to add a prop strike
to ruin my day?

Could side load or bad landings, bouncing on the nose cause such a
failure?
My landing just prior to the this occurring was fine, mains first, then
slowly
down on the nose. Just curious. Also, what would happen if the tire went
flat
during flight? I guess I would know the minute the nose settled on the
runway.
If that happened, all I could do is hold the nose off by pulling back on
the yolk.

Kevin Kubiak PP-ASEL

Tire wasn't made by firestone was it?

Steven Rhine
CP-ASEL-IA

NW_PILOT wrote:




Tire wasn't made by firestone was it?

Steven Rhine
CP-ASEL-IA


Don't really know. Funny now that you mention it
I had a problem with Firestone Tires on my
car 25 yrs ago. The same thing happened. The
steel belts shifted and started wearing through the sidewall.
I got lucky then too, because it was caught during
a routine oil change before I had a blowout.

Kevin Kubiak - PP-ASEL

"Kevin Kubiak" wrote in message
...
NW_PILOT wrote:




Tire wasn't made by firestone was it?

Steven Rhine
CP-ASEL-IA


Don't really know. Funny now that you mention it
I had a problem with Firestone Tires on my
car 25 yrs ago. The same thing happened. The
steel belts shifted and started wearing through the sidewall.
I got lucky then too, because it was caught during
a routine oil change before I had a blowout.

Kevin Kubiak - PP-ASEL

That was meant to me a funny as for all the Firestone tire recalls!

Did I over react by shutting down the engine, but I was really
did not want to add a prop strike
to ruin my day?

You did not overreact at all. Something's amiss, you need to check it
out before flight. You're not going to get out of the plane to check it
with the engine running, are you?

The problem apparently was that
some of the steel cord must have popped up through the tires
sidewall and punctured the tub.

You were flying in a bathtub? I hope you didn't have water damage on
the floor.

Also, what would happen if the tire went flat
during flight? I guess I would know the minute the nose settled on the runway.
If that happened, all I could do is hold the nose off by pulling back on the yolk.

Yep. Easy over or you'll be scrambled.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Kevin Kubiak" wrote in message
...
[...]
Does this kind of thing happen frequently. Did I over react by shutting
down the engine, but I was really did not want to add a prop strike
to ruin my day?

Personally, I think it's a great idea to shut down the engine before doing
any service on the nosewheel.

Seriously though, in this situation, obviously if the prop hadn't hit yet,
it wasn't going to.

In any case, I agree that you're probably dealing with a manufacturing
defect. Tires should be able to take LOTS of abuse, and a botched landing
that actually damages a tire would damage plenty else on the airplane as
well.

You did the right thing, you got it fixed, AND you've got an FBO who handles
off-site repair reimbursement properly. What more could you ask?

(I'll skip the egg joke, since Jose already got that one... ).

Pete

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 12:54:18 -0500, Kevin Kubiak
wrote:

The general manager said I will be reimbursed for the repair, but was curious
about the flat. I was too since the tire looked to be relatively new.
In fact it was only replaced 2 weeks prior. The problem apparently was that
some of the steel cord must have popped up through the tires sidewall and
punctured the tub. If you rub your hand over the inside you can feel the steel
wire protruding through the sidewall.

I didn't know anyone made steel cord tires for aircraft, at least not
for aircraft that I'm likely to fly. All the tires I've seen are nylon
bias-ply tires. The only steel is the tire bead.

Could the steel cord be foreign object damage? In that case, lucky you
picked it up in the tire and not in the prop.

RK Henry

I didn't know anyone made steel cord tires for aircraft, at least not
for aircraft that I'm likely to fly. All the tires I've seen are nylon
bias-ply tires. The only steel is the tire bead.

Could the steel cord be foreign object damage? In that case, lucky you
picked it up in the tire and not in the prop.

RK Henry

Not sure. I don't know that much about aircraft tires. That's why I posted
here. The material was very fine bristly stiff wire. I just assumed it was
steel cord, since it felt like the steel cord from automotive tires. What was
weird is that it was about mid point on the side wall. The A&P that replaced
the tire was surprised as well. The clubs A & P is looking into it. To try and
figure out if was tire defect or if somewhere something got picked up. It was
very odd.

Kevin Kubiak PP-ASEL

"Kevin Kubiak" wrote in message
...
I didn't know anyone made steel cord tires for aircraft, at least not
for aircraft that I'm likely to fly. All the tires I've seen are nylon
bias-ply tires. The only steel is the tire bead.

Could the steel cord be foreign object damage? In that case, lucky you
picked it up in the tire and not in the prop.

RK Henry

Not sure. I don't know that much about aircraft tires. That's why I
posted
here. The material was very fine bristly stiff wire. I just assumed it
was
steel cord, since it felt like the steel cord from automotive tires. What
was
weird is that it was about mid point on the side wall. The A&P that
replaced
the tire was surprised as well. The clubs A & P is looking into it. To
try and
figure out if was tire defect or if somewhere something got picked up. It
was
very odd.

Kevin Kubiak PP-ASEL

It didn't say "Farm and Fleet" on the sidewall did it? :-)

RK Henry wrote:

I didn't know anyone made steel cord tires for aircraft, at least not
for aircraft that I'm likely to fly.

That also puzzled me when I read it. I just checked the Desser Tire site, and
they don't list any steel cord tires.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.