P-51 - Tailwheel Tire Blowouts / Replacements

[Eric Trueblood]

Good Morning -

A few of you might have noticed or saw the Tailwheel Tire blow out on the Redtail CAF C-model Mustang at Oshkosh. It happened while it was being towed into Aeroshell Square - luckily Larry Lumpkin and the Gunfighter crew keep a spare with their A/C.

After talking with Desser Tire they indicated that, on P-51 applications only, there have been blowouts due to the side load when the A/C is being towed. The particular problem only exists on Aero Classic tires that were manufactured in Vietnam. You can check this by simply looking at the bead on the tire, which will indicate where it was manufactured. If you have a Vietnam made Aero Classic Tailwheel Tire Desser Tire will replace it. The tire is below.

Aero Classic 12.5 x 4.5 - 10/14 PLY CHANNEL TREAD - Made in Vietnam

If there are any T-6 guys who have had similar problems chime in...

Eric Trueblood

[Hal B]

Thanks for the heads-up! Looks like I'll be checking our t/w tire stock today...

[P51Mstg]

I was about 50' away when it blew. Does towing it on the grass make any difference?

Mark H

[B-25 MM Jim]

That tire had 5 hours on it... it shouldn't have seperated. Period. Towing on the grass should never affect it... glad it happened while towing and not landing...

[John Beyl]

Good Morning -

A few of you might have noticed or saw the Tailwheel Tire blow out on the Redtail CAF C-model Mustang at Oshkosh. It happened while it was being towed into Aeroshell Square - luckily Larry Lumpkin and the Gunfighter crew keep a spare with their A/C.

After talking with Desser Tire they indicated that, on P-51 applications only, there have been blowouts due to the side load when the A/C is being towed. The particular problem only exists on Aero Classic tires that were manufactured in Vietnam. You can check this by simply looking at the bead on the tire, which will indicate where it was manufactured. If you have a Vietnam made Aero Classic Tailwheel Tire Desser Tire will replace it. The tire is below.

Aero Classic 12.5 x 4.5 - 10/14 PLY CHANNEL TREAD - Made in Vietnam

If there are any T-6 guys who have had similar problems chime in...

Eric Trueblood

Hi all,

Just wanted to give you an update on our experiences with the Vietnam tail wheel tire situation. After contacting Desser to get replacement tail wheel tires for the two Vietnamese units they sent to us, while moving the airplane straight ahead two feet inside the hangar, without warning the tire cut loose. Interestingly enough the tail wheel was not pivoting either. It simply rolled straight ahead two feet. After everybody got their hearts restarted and cleaned their shorts, we installed one of the new replacements.

The good tires are made in China (Clearly marked on the tires sidewall) and seem to have a stronger sidewall and stiffer rubber than the Vietnam tires. Take Eric’s recommendation above and check your tires. If it’s suspect, these things can’t be trusted…get it off your airplane. That our second tire blew out in the hangar was a complete gift from above. Had it happened on take off or landing, things could have gotten expensive.

John
CC Red Tail

[N3Njeff]

John, this the tube or the tire itself???? Are the mustang tires tubeless???

[Mark Peterson]

Found two of my spares were made in Vietnam. Desser will replace both. Thanks for putting this info out!

[51fixer]

John, this the tube or the tire itself???? Are the mustang tires tubeless???

Tires are not tubeless on any WWII tire I am aware of.
All 3 on the P-51 need a tbe.
Issues are usually in the sidewall or bead areas.
Tailwheel Beads are reinforced with wire wrapped around and then molded with rubber.
I just changed a China made 10 ply on a P-51 Monday night.
If you didn't see this pic in another thread, from my cell phone-

This one has maybe 6-7 flights since new.
Rich

[N3Njeff]

OH CRAP!!!!! I was having a hard time figuring out how the sidewall would blow out but your not kidding!!!! THANKS, my concern was that we got a tube from dresser for our N3N and tho the 51 has a bigger tire, I was hoping that it was not a tube issue.

Hope the word gets out to all affected before something happens. Does dresser have a list of people that got sent these tires??? They just for the P-51??? would the T-6 be the same?

[51fixer]

OH CRAP!!!!! I was having a hard time figuring out how the sidewall would blow out but your not kidding!!!! THANKS, my concern was that we got a tube from dresser for our N3N and tho the 51 has a bigger tire, I was hoping that it was not a tube issue.

Hope the word gets out to all affected before something happens. Does dresser have a list of people that got sent these tires??? They just for the P-51??? would the T-6 be the same?

T-6 and many other warbirds use the same tire.
I will run the 10 ply on the T-6 and due to it's lighter weight it seems to do fine.
On the P-51 I try to use the 14 ply. It is a heavier A/C and the F4U, P-47 ect are even heavier.
Proper inflation and constant visual insp are good practice.
Rich

[Yak 11 Fan]

As a matter of interest what tyre pressues are you guys using?

[STEARMAN]

Is it possible to run with a solid wheel? I've used successfully on a Stearman for about 3 years, but my guess is that with a heavier plane and faster speeds, the tire would not hold up.

Greg

[sdennison]

Rich, by new do you mean new to the mount? How "old" was the "new" tire?

What I'm getting at is how aged is the rubber? How long can a new, old stock tire be stored and not get "brittle" so that after a few landings, the side walls do what you have pictured?

My question is to educate me as I am "igorant" about such things.

Thanks,
Scott

[Mark V]

As a matter of interest what tyre pressues are you guys using?

There was talk at Oshkosh of people using higher tail wheel pressures, in excess of 100PSI. We run the 'book' 90 PSI, preume you do too?

[B-25 MM Jim]

Red Tail uses 90 psi. We've blown 2 tires, one at oshkosh, and one moving the aircraft 2 feet, straight line (no side loads) in our hanger!