Ok, the blow outs were my fault! I have my main gear wheels very tightly cowled
such that you can't readily inspect the condition of the tires without removing
the wheel pants. I had let one of the tires wear beyond bald......where the
cords were showing through, but didn't know it. Eventually on one of my
landings,
the tube poked through the tire, and that was that. My fault. Mea
Culpa!........lesson
learned.
The nosewheel blowout is a little speculation on my part, but when I went to
repair
the flat, I found the bolts securing the two halves of the wheel rim
together........were
"loose". I surmised that upon first contact with the ground
on landing, the two halves separated just enough for the tube get inbetween the
two halves of the rim, and pinch a hole in the tube. When I inspected the tube,
sure enough the hole was on the inside diameter of the tube, right where
a pinching of the rims would occur. Again, my fault for not checking the
tightness
of the wheel bolts.
The tires supplied by Europa are "middle grade".....not junk, but not premium
either.
After wearing out the factory tires, I have upgraded to Goodyear premium
tires, and they seem to be wearing better. But......nothing to worry about
with the factory tires. They're just fine.
Garry V. Stout
District Manager, AT&T Business Services
Phone: 813-878-3929 Fax 813-878-5651
*****Please note new e-mail address******
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Mainwheel punctures
Gary,
Having "tested" the tires on several Cessna 152s while learning to land
during primary training (and I'll admit to a few additional "tests" later
on), and having never damaged any tires or aircraft, I find your experience
quite worrisome. Were these tire failures with the factory supplied tires
and tubes from the third world, or with real aircraft tires and tubes (on
the mains, anyway)? And, were the failures during normal landings on paved
runways?
Best regards,
Rob Housman
A070
-----Original Message-----
Behalf Of STOUT, GARRY V, CSFF2
Subject: Re: Mainwheel punctures
In my trigear, I have experienced a tire blow out on both the nosewheel, and
one of the maingear wheels. The nosewheel blow out was quite severe with a
violent shimmy that I thought would shake the plane to pieces. No problem
maintaining directional control however, as I used the rudder effectively
until the plane slowed down and then used differential braking to maintain
directional control. With the landing blow out on the right main gear tire,
I had already slowed down to about 15 kts when the blow out occurred.
Maintaining directional stability was a real struggle. I shudder to think
what would have happened if it blew out right at touchdown speed. In either
situation, it's not a fun experience.
Garry V. Stout
District Manager, AT&T Business Services
Phone: 813-878-3929 Fax 813-878-5651
*****Please note new e-mail address******
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Mainwheel punctures
> Alan, raises a good question about the monowheel - can anyone who has
> experienced a monowheel puncture on touch-down say what happened please?
I experienced a monowheel (G-GBXS) puncture on arrival at last years North
Weald Aerofair.
I landed on the concrete runway with, what must have been, a completely flat
tyre. The experience was strange but I can honestly say that it wasn't a big
deal - the aircraft tracked straight and true with a very short ground roll.
The prop was never in any danger of striking the ground (though I was
concerned at the time) and the culprit turned out to be a stiff piece of
lock wire that (I assume) must have been picked up at my departure airfield.
Regards
Mark Waite
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