biggest airplane tire?
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?
What was the biggest airplane tire ever made and what was it used on?
Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:04 pm
My uneducated guess is the B-19.
Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:05 pm
XB-36. It's sitting in the US Air Force Museum at Dayton Ohio.
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?
But other then that any others?
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
Canso42
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". 
Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:25 am
Short Stirling ?
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.
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.
Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:37 am
James, is that the 8 foot one I'm thinking of?
Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:18 am
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
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.
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.
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
Last edited by airnutz on Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:32 am
That single wheel B36 is big....
(click to expand)
(click to expand)
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?
