biggest airplane tire?

Nathan · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:53 pm

Ok here is a question......

What was the biggest airplane tire ever made and what was it used on?

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11330

My uneducated guess is the B-19.

b29flteng · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:05 pm

XB-36. It's sitting in the US Air Force Museum at Dayton Ohio.

Nathan · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:11 pm

I was wondering about the early B-36 with the huge single wheels.

But other then that any others?

Canso42 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:02 pm

The XC-99, the double-bubble cargo job kinda sorta based on the B-36 also initially used the humongous singlemain tire. A real runway crusher there, folks.

Canso42

b29flteng · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:51 pm

The question reminds me of a comic I saw in a YANK magazine my father brought home from WWII. It had a drawing of a huge tire, about the size of the XB-36s', with a Drill Sgt. telling a Pvt. holding a bicycle hand pump, "Your first week of basic training is going to be spent right here filling this tire".

Paul Patist · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:25 am

Short Stirling ?

dhfan · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:13 am

I have feeling it was either the Tarrant Tabor or the Beardmore Inflexible that had an 8 foot diameter tyre.

JDK · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:29 am

dhfan wrote:

I have feeling it was either the Tarrant Tabor or the Beardmore Inflexible that had an 8 foot diameter tyre.

A really hard question is what's the biggest, oldest surviving tyre? The Science Museum in London has one from that era.

dhfan · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:37 am

James, is that the 8 foot one I'm thinking of?

famvburg · **Joined:** Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:41 am **Posts:** 540

I think the XC-99 was built from the XB-36, so they both used it.

Canso42 wrote:

The XC-99, the double-bubble cargo job kinda sorta based on the B-36 also initially used the humongous singlemain tire. A real runway crusher there, folks.

Canso42

CAPFlyer · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:25 am

The single main tire on the YB-36 & XC-99 was 9 feet in diameter.

This tire restricted the YB-36 and XC-99 to operations from 3 runways in the United States - Carswell AFB (where it was built), Fairfield-Suisun (now Travis AFB), and Eglin AFB due to the weight loading on the concrete runways. As this was obviously unacceptable for the service aircraft, the 4-wheel bogie was developed and installed, the first such installation on an aircraft.

airnutz · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:28 am

JDK wrote:

dhfan wrote:

I have feeling it was either the Tarrant Tabor or the Beardmore Inflexible that had an 8 foot diameter tyre.

A really hard question is what's the biggest, oldest surviving tyre? The Science Museum in London has one from that era.

I believe the XB-36 has that topped at 9feet 2inches,(110 inches)...

Edit

Wheels up · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:32 am

That single wheel B36 is big....

(click to expand)

rwdfresno · **Posted:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:53 pm

I always thought this was a pretty unique idea to try and distribute the B-36 gtound pressure. As far as I know it was the only Aircraft half-track. Anyone know of any others?

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