Six Ways To Keep Your Aircraft Tires In Good Shape
How you use and maintain your aircraft tires will have a big impact on their condition and lifespan. Fortunately, there are numerous things you can do to ensure that your tires remain in the best possible shape over time.
The following are six things you can do to keep your aircraft tires in good shape:
Avoiding tire wear against the runway surface
Carefully executing your landings will keep your tires in better shape. You need to master your crosswind technique so that you're not relying on the runway to straighten the landing crab when you land. A bad landing wreaks havoc on your tires by wearing away the rubber tread.
Ensuring the tires in place on your aircraft are appropriate
Aircraft tires come in numerous different varieties. You need to make sure you have the right tires for the particular type of flying you do regularly in your aircraft.
For longer trips, you should invest in tires that hold up well against UV exposure. For around-the-patch piloting, you should focus on tires that offer a lot of heavy-duty tread.
Always inspecting tires after a rough landing
Rough landings are inevitable from time to time. While you can't completely avoid them, you can carefully inspect your tires after a rough landing to make sure there is no damage that needs to be addressed.
Whenever you feel you have skidded slightly or braked heavily during a landing, inspect your tires postflight to make sure everything is ok before you fly again.
Using tire talc when mounting tires
A new aircraft tire should come along with a pack of tire talc. This talc is used to lubricate the inside of the tire when the tire is mounted in place.
In addition to putting talc on the inside of the tire, you should also put talc on the tire bead and the outside of the tire tube to ensure adequate lubrication.
Inflating tires to the proper pressure
If your tires aren't properly inflated, there will be a great deal of stress on them. This is especially true when the aircraft is moving fast and the tire is flexing a great deal.
It's better to overinflate aircraft tires than to underinflate them. However, you should be aware of what the manufacturer's recommendations are for the ideal tire pressure and keep the tire pressure as close within this range as possible.
Balancing tires properly
It's a good idea to balance your tires to ensure that they are aligned properly. You can balance tires by lining the red dot up along with the tube valve stem when the tire is installed.
To learn more about aircraft tires, contact a company in your area like Farm Landings LLC.