Changing *BIG* Aircraft Tires [Was Coalition casualties forseptember]

Peter Stickney wrote:

for that matter, necessarily any greater. Working on the tires of a
heavy truck, or, to keep thinga a bit on topic, a fairly good-sized
airplane has quite a bit of risk involved. Go down to the local

Which brings up the question of precisely what is the method for
changing tires on really large aircraft? Pretty much the same as
heavy construction equipment (which I don't know about either)?

Do aircraft use split rims like some 18-wheeler trucks do to facilitate
tire changes, or is there some big hydraulic machine that squeezes the
tire, breaking the rim seal or forcing the tire bead over the rim, just
as with automotive tires?

What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).


SMH

"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
Peter Stickney wrote:

for that matter, necessarily any greater. Working on the tires of a
heavy truck, or, to keep thinga a bit on topic, a fairly good-sized
airplane has quite a bit of risk involved. Go down to the local

Which brings up the question of precisely what is the method for
changing tires on really large aircraft? Pretty much the same as
heavy construction equipment (which I don't know about either)?

Do aircraft use split rims like some 18-wheeler trucks do to facilitate
tire changes, or is there some big hydraulic machine that squeezes the
tire, breaking the rim seal or forcing the tire bead over the rim, just
as with automotive tires?

What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).


SMH

The B-36A as originally built had one tire on each of the two main (i.e. not
nosewheel) gear. The link below has a picture and some data.

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraf.../info/info.htm

KB

In article , "Stephen Harding"
wrote:

[snip]

Which brings up the question of precisely what is the method for
changing tires on really large aircraft? Pretty much the same as heavy
construction equipment (which I don't know about either)?

Do aircraft use split rims like some 18-wheeler trucks do to facilitate
tire changes, or is there some big hydraulic machine that squeezes the
tire, breaking the rim seal or forcing the tire bead over the rim, just
as with automotive tires?

[snip]

Split rims.
x00psi Nitrogen fill typically.
Essentially big honkin' Z++ rated truck tires.
They even recap them.

IBM

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The split rims are split just like cutting a bagel in half - lots of
bolts hold the halves together. back in the olden days a split rim was
a diiferent design -just a slice across the rim itself. A lever locked
the thing in place. Unlocking the lever and lots of muscle allowed you
to overlap the ends and with more muscle and 2 tire irons get the tire
itself off, tube patched, and everything back together. An hour was
about right for the job.
Now the aircraft wheels use facing halves and a big o-ring for a
sealer between the halves. The tires are tubelss, and usually 24 ply.
They can be recapped as many times as the carcass passes inspection.
Some airlines did have limits , but others went 'on condition'. The
wheels are built up, pressurized with N2, and elak-checked fro 24
hours before being released for service. On being delivered to a
aircraft, they are topped off with N2 as required. Herby lies a tale:
I was at Air Florida at Miami when one of our troops took a main mount
wheel out to a 737. It gauged a trifle low so he screwed an N2 line on
the Schrader valve and cranked open the service valve. The line gauge
didn't rise any so he screwed down the pressure regulator a trifle,
Still no rise so he screwed it down some more - and more. An odd sound
hit his ears, sort of a creaking noise. He looked at the wheel just in
time to see the bolts being pulled down through the nuts - he said he
had time to think "now that's strange!" when Whammo the top half of
the wheel took off, his ears were ringing, and talcum powder was
fogging the inside of the van. The wheel half went out through the
roof of the van (sheet metal!), sailed clear over the concourse, and
landed on the other side with a clangor, fortunately missing
everything over there. The service line gauge was broken - it always
read zero despite whatever the line pressure was . . .
FWIW airing up a tire is hazardous - cages are used in tire shops, and
with hot brakes it is very dangerous to get in line with the axle
until everything has cooled off. On a jet, one engine on up, the main
wheel tires take about 30 minutes after landing to reach peak temp.
Some places had the aircraft taxi over spikes to defkate the tires
after a hot landing. Airliners incorporate fuse plugs of low-melting
alloy to relieve pressures and you always hope they will work.
Walt BJ

Saw a story, I think in Attack Aircraft of the West by Bill Gunston, about a
tire in a Buccaneer wheel well blowing out and blowing the wing skin off the
upper wing- on a wing built to do high speed low level attack runs. That's
not something I really want to get up close and personal with.

--
Jim Atkins
Twentynine Palms CA USA

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx

Still no rise so he screwed it down some more - and more. An odd sound
hit his ears, sort of a creaking noise. He looked at the wheel just in
time to see the bolts being pulled down through the nuts - he said he
had time to think "now that's strange!" when Whammo the top half of
the wheel took off, his ears were ringing, and talcum powder was
fogging the inside of the van. The wheel half went out through the
roof of the van (sheet metal!), sailed clear over the concourse, and
landed on the other side with a clangor, fortunately missing
everything over there. The service line gauge was broken - it always
read zero despite whatever the line pressure was . . .
FWIW airing up a tire is hazardous - cages are used in tire shops, and
with hot brakes it is very dangerous to get in line with the axle
until everything has cooled off.


there's a series of photos floating around the net of a guy who was on
the wrong side of an overinflated tire. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).

I suspect the original B-36 / XC-99 single mains.

What aircraft has the largest tires???

I realize that you're speaking in the present tense, but the all-time
champion was certainly the original B-36. You can see the tire to this
day at the Wright-Patt museum in Dayton OH.

(As designed, the 36 could land on so few runways that the single
tires were soon replaced by maller double-tire bogies.)


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"John Keeney" wrote:


"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).

I suspect the original B-36 / XC-99 single mains.


I'll second that motion...

--

-Gord.

I can't speak for any other aircraft, but the F-101 had split rims.
Al
"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
Peter Stickney wrote:

for that matter, necessarily any greater. Working on the tires of a
heavy truck, or, to keep thinga a bit on topic, a fairly good-sized
airplane has quite a bit of risk involved. Go down to the local

Which brings up the question of precisely what is the method for
changing tires on really large aircraft? Pretty much the same as
heavy construction equipment (which I don't know about either)?

Do aircraft use split rims like some 18-wheeler trucks do to facilitate
tire changes, or is there some big hydraulic machine that squeezes the
tire, breaking the rim seal or forcing the tire bead over the rim, just
as with automotive tires?

What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).


SMH