Simviation Forum - How many landings to a tire?

Aug 3^rd, 2004 at 8:34pm

jrpilot Offline
Colonel

Gender:
Posts: 2255

I was just wondering on how many landings a commercial jet can get on each tire before it needs to be taken off and put on with a fresh one...I would think it would been done numerous times...but tires are expensive....so tell me your input...

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #1 - Aug 3^rd, 2004 at 8:39pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

hmmm... Heard something on the history chanel a while back. I think it was somewhere around 60 or 70 landings for a 747. tire cost was somewhere in the 700 dollar range.

But who knows how old that program was Roll Eyes

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #2 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 12:03am

SilverFox441 Offline
Colonel
Now What?
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Gender:
Posts: 1467

Tires are changed based on wear on many planes...just like a car, only there are very specific tests to see how much wear is left.

Steve (Silver Fox) Daly

&&

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #3 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 12:06am

Saratoga Offline
Colonel
757/767 Captain Major,
USAF
Dallas-Ft. Worth Intl. (KDFW)

Gender:
Posts: 571

Depends on the workload. C-172 tires can last a good long while if you take good care of them. The tires on the 777 (which are well over 6 feet in diameter) only last around 100 landings (which is a critical wear period obviously). Most tire manufacturers take the old tires back and melt the down and reform the rubber into a new tire, so the airlines get discounts for turning in their old tires.

Pilot for a major US airline certified in the: EMB-120, CRJ, 727, 737, 757, 767, and A-320 and military, T-38, C-130, C-141, and C-5 along with misc. other small airplanes. Any questions, I'm here for you.

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #4 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 2:57am

ozzy72 Offline
Global Moderator
Pretty scary huh?
Madsville

Gender:
Posts: 37122

It depends how many heavy landings occur Grin

There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #5 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 12:16pm

SilverFox441 Offline
Colonel
Now What?
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Gender:
Posts: 1467

Braking techniques and conditions can also affect tires quite quickly.

Steve (Silver Fox) Daly

&&

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #6 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 1:50pm

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

Fortunately, our local airfield has a grass strip running parallel to the main tarmac runway, so many pilots use the grass strip to land on if conditions allow, rather than the hard runway, in order to extend the life of their expensive tyres.
(This applies to tricycle arrangements as well as tail-draggers... Wink

...)...!

Cheers all... Grin

...!

Paul.

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #7 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 3:07pm

Mr. Bones Offline
Colonel

Posts: 4304

i think i once heart something about 200...but that was perhaps 100 take off and (hopefully) 100 landings...i don't know.

of course it depends on the weight of the plane, how smooth pilots land it, temperature and roughness of the runways and so on. Wink

Raw power...the J-58.&&&&&&My Anet collection.&&

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #8 - Aug 4^th, 2004 at 4:54pm

Nexus Offline
Colonel
The greater of two evils...

Gender:
Posts: 3282

It was diplayed on my flight today.

A normal 737 tire is changed after 250 landings...it ALSO said how much it costed to buy a new one...the number escapes me, but it has a pricetag in the 5 digit range (USD) i THINK.
Remember that they are inflated with nitrogen and it's not a tire you can buy at the local auto part dealer

For security reasons, at around 177 C (351F) the thermal fuse plugs in the inner half of the wheels melts to release air pressure in order to prevent explosions caused by hot brakes. So the design is quite complicated compared to a normal tire

« Last Edit: Aug 5^th, 2004 at 6:00am by Nexus »

Back to top

IP Logged

Reply #9 - Aug 5^th, 2004 at 11:57am

Hagar Offline
Colonel
My Spitfire Girl
Costa Geriatrica

Posts: 33159

I can remember when the Boeing 747 first entered service the tyres lasted 2 landings on average. The tyres cost £1,000 each so that was £16,000 every 2 landings. I was told this by the Dunlop rep at Gatwick at the time. Aircraft tyres have improved a great deal since those days. Unlike car tyres, retreaded aircraft tyres are actually better than new ones.

Quote:

Remember that they are inflated with nitrogen and it's not a tire you can buy at the local auto part dealer

The "nitrogen" used to inflate tyres is simply compressed air with no oxygen content. Compressed air is no longer allowed to be used on aircraft due to the risk of explosion. This might also apply to other commercial uses due to improvements in health & safety regulations over the last 30 years. The main differences between a car tyre & one used on aircraft is that aircraft tyres are not used to provide motive power or for cornering at speed so have quite different tread patterns & grip properties. Some aircraft tyres are completely bald with no tread at all.

Founder & Sole Member - Grumpy's Over the Hill Club for Veteran Virtual Aviators
Member of the Fox Four Group

Need help? Try Grumpy's Lair

My photo gallery

Back to top

IP Logged

	Search the archive: