Another lost wheel


Didn't see this already posted. Feel free to delete if its a duplicate.
Why delete it. It was a year or so ago. Lotsa new folk have become POA’ers since then. Someone will probably post the link to that thread soon enough. I’m too lazy to go looking for it right now.
 
then the tire strikes the victim vehicle a second time from behind. Talk about insult to injury.
 
A few days ago a truck lost a wheel and a car took off:

I cannot comprehend the physics on that. Not saying it’s not real, but I just don’t see how.
 
I cannot comprehend the physics on that. Not saying it’s not real, but I just don’t see how.
Well, at 70 MPH, a car trying to climb a rolling 32" wheel is going to get flung pretty good. I don't see any impossible physics there. Ever seen such accidents on racetracks?

If that had been an old car, with the weaker roof structures common 40 or 50 years ago, that driver wouldn't have walked away. He'd have been scraped up and hauled away.

That truck has big offset in the wheels. Yeah, it might look cool, but it puts a lot more stress on the wheel studs, leading to failures like that. A lot of places have laws against such modifications, but they're routinely ignored. Those tires, sticking out past the fenders, also fling large stones forward at twice the vehicle's speed. I once had a golf-ball-sized rock thrown at me by such a truck. He was doing maybe 30 MPH, me the same, coming toward him. It sure destroyed the windshield, right in front of me. At 70 MPH it would have killed me.
 
that heavy wheel rotating forward on the highway has a ton of momentum, something grabs that rubber that energy has to go somewhere!
 
Why delete it. It was a year or so ago. Lotsa new folk have become POA’ers since then. Someone will probably post the link to that thread soon enough. I’m too lazy to go looking for it right now.
That was a different incident where a Piper (I believe) lost a main. This one was a few days ago in California with a Diamond that lost the nose wheel.
 
Does the CFI in the other plane get to count his time coaching the student as dual given? :biggrin:

With the amount of info he was providing to her I'd almost say yes. In reality, I think it was great that he was there and got on the radio to help calm her down if nothing else.
 
I suppose the other stupid question is ...

What does the preflight for this look like?
"Gear - secure" (grabs and violently shakes each strut)
 
I suppose the other stupid question is ...

What does the preflight for this look like?
"Gear - secure" (grabs and violently shakes each strut)
I'm only a lowly Private pilot, but my flight instructor a few years ago told me the school I was at removed all the wheelpants as they hindered the ability for a good preflight. He said it wasn't impossible, but that most students and new pilots wouldn't take the time to thoroughly inspect the wheel and attaching hardware in its entirety. They had a tire blowout on landing and the next day all wheelpants were removed.

Not saying the girl didn't do a good preflight, but I'm curious if she only looked at the tire to ensure it had air in it.
 
They had a tire blowout on landing and the next day all wheelpants were removed.

Not saying the girl didn't do a good preflight, but I'm curious if she only looked at the tire to ensure it had air in it.
Blowouts are usually a result of running the tire tread down too far, or of skidding the tire with heavy braking while the airplane still has speed and therefore lift and little traction. Or both factors may apply. Once in a while the tire might rotate on the wheel during heavy braking, tearing out the valve stem. Underinflation can cause that.

The owners/maintainers shouldn't try to get every last hour out of a tire, especially in a flight school. It's false economy, revealed when the thing blows at a remote airport on a cross-country, or on the runway of a busy airport.

And CFIs should not tolerate students trying to fix bad approaches and long, fast landings that force them to brake heavily.
 
I'm only a lowly Private pilot, but my flight instructor a few years ago told me the school I was at removed all the wheelpants as they hindered the ability for a good preflight
A lot of flight schools do this. Sacrifice 2 or 3 knots for easier preflight. Never know when last guy might flat spot the tire.
 
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