I Found something Cheap on an airplane!

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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I landed Sunday and was met with a crunchy sound and a lot of bumps.

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I managed to get it off the runway and onto a taxi way where a MX was working on some less awesome planes.

We googled it and found the tire and tube ad an airport not far away.
They only had retreads BUT still the tire was only $60 and the tube $120.
Only thing I have bought that cost less than the fuel in the tanks.

He put the plane on a "dolly" and got it to his hangar.

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He made sure to tow it real slow so it doesn't accidentally takeoff and start flying


There was 3 hours labor but all in all, a blowout on landing is a non event and the repair not a major financial issue.
 
You really, really want to own a Bo. We can tell from the way you are pretending to now.:D
 
GRG55 said:
You really, really want to own a Bo. We can tell...:D
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After Spike flew my to 6Y9, I thought a lot about it. Something that carries more weight will be in my future.
That's a ways off though.
 
Only retreads... Some people in the RV10 community have found retreads to wear better and last longer than originals. So feel even better about getting a flat!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
After Spike flew my to 6Y9, I thought a lot about it. Something that carries more weight will be in my future.
That's a ways off though.
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But do you really want something that's easy to push into the hangar? I mean, where's the challenge in that?
 
Heck, I see entire Grumman wheel assemblies for six bucks ...
RP9040.jpg
 
I think there is some equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome going on here. You spent $180 for a little bitty tire and tube, and paid for three hours labor to change it, and you call it cheap. I'm telling ya, paying aviation prices for stuff is changing your perspective. Hopefully as your kids get older, they won't figure that out or things could really get out of hand. :confused:
 
FormerHangie said:
I think there is some equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome going on here. You spent $180 for a little bitty tire and tube, and paid for three hours labor to change it, and you call it cheap. I'm telling ya, paying aviation prices for stuff is changing your perspective. Hopefully as your kids get older, they won't figure that out or things could really get out of hand. :confused:
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Throw in a little beaten wife syndrome and I think you have it pegged.
 
FormerHangie said:
I think there is some equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome going on here. You spent $180 for a little bitty tire and tube, and paid for three hours labor to change it, and you call it cheap. I'm telling ya, paying aviation prices for stuff is changing your perspective. Hopefully as your kids get older, they won't figure that out or things could really get out of hand. :confused:
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Well yeah in hindsight, $420 for a tire change is....
Ugh.... Yep, I've become desensitized to spending money.

Damn! That is a lot of money for a tire change actually.

I feel dumb.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Well yeah in hindsight, $420 for a tire change is....
Ugh.... Yep, I've become desensitized to spending money.

Damn! That is a lot of money for a tire change actually.

I feel dumb.
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Just wait until you have to do avionics work. It's a whole new world of being desensitized.
 
Someone please do the math on a mass-of-rubber per dollar vs a car. Better yet, do a dollar per mile calculation vs a car (only counting ground contact). I’m too lazy to do the math.
 
I always thought the cheapest part of any airplane was the pilot.

On my J-3, the tires/tubes are some of the most expensive parts. In 2011 I paid over $800 just for two tire/two tubes. They are now an oddball size and only Goodyear makes them...occasionally. I'm glad I'm getting my Cub back on a grass strip.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Well yeah in hindsight, $420 for a tire change is....
Ugh.... Yep, I've become desensitized to spending money.

Damn! That is a lot of money for a tire change actually.

I feel dumb.
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Don't feel bad, we all do goofy things. Back when I was racing, I'd spend what would be $1200 today on a set of tires that would last five track hours. On Sunday, I spent $220 to fly for an hour in a machine so odd looking it could have been designed by Dr. Seuss, and you know what, I'm going to do it again.

455 Bravo Uniform said:
Someone please do the math on a mass-of-rubber per dollar vs a car. Better yet, do a dollar per mile calculation vs a car (only counting ground contact). I’m too lazy to do the math.
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Don't do that, you're not going to like the answer.
 
Everybody knows aircraft tires and tubes are made of unobtaium (a secretion of sea slugs) which is found in a deep sea trench off the coast of China. Mining vessels similar to the Glomar Explorer must be under the protection of a US Carrier Battle Group.

Now you know why Aircraft tires and tubes ain’t cheap.

Cheers
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I landed Sunday and was met with a crunchy sound and a lot of bumps.
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Sounds about normal. :rofl:

They only had retreads
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Forget this "only" thing. For airplanes, retreads are way better than new tires. Why? Because you want a somewhat-soft rubber for the sidewalls to help cushion the landings, while you want a harder rubber for the tread so that they last longer. On a new tire, they have to compromise between the two. On a retread, they can use a harder rubber compound for the tread, making a longer-lasting tire.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/april/15/whats-so-special-about-aircraft-tires

There was 3 hours labor but all in all, a blowout on landing is a non event and the repair not a major financial issue.
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Wait until you blow out one of the mains on your castering-nosewheel airplanes. Then it's a little more of an event... As you slow down, the bad tire will cause more and more drag on its side. When you need full opposite rudder plus a healthy amount of brake to maintain runway centerline, you'll know you've got a blowout!

Blown tires are kind of my thing... And if I'm gonna have a thing, I'll take that! I've blown a 172 main pre-solo, a 182 main, a DA40 main, and a Citabria tailwheel. On both the 172 and the Citabria, I was flying with a CFI, and asked each CFI beforehand, "Hey, doesn't that tire look a little flat to you?" And CFIs being CFIs, the answer is always the same: "Nah, it's fine, let's go fly." Don't ever believe a CFI. Get a tire gauge and use it.

Since you have a castering-nosewheel plane and fly another one, I'll say this too - We went through a lot of mains (and brakes) in the DA40 because people used the brakes for steering far too much, especially on the takeoff roll and the landing roll. IMO, you should never use brakes with a castering nosewheel UNLESS you've already got the rudder fully to the stop on that side, which will never happen during the takeoff/landing rolls unless you've blown a tire, or you're slow enough to easily pull off the runway on landing. (Propwash should give you plenty of rudder authority to steer almost immediately on the takeoff roll.)

I'm not sure what size tires you use in the Grumman, but the DA40 and R182 that the club has both use 15/6.00x6 and we found that those are not commonly stocked at FBOs and we were spending a boatload of money getting new ones overnighted to places. You can invariably find an A&P to change a tire, but if you don't have the tire, you might be SOL. Since we were also spending a lot of money on tires buying them from various FBOs, we started stocking tires and tubes, and carrying a spare tire and tube in the back of the Diamond.
 
Somehow I've managed to go 3,000 hours without blowing a tire, but I've always put expensive new tires (Goodyear Flight Custom IIIs are my favorite) on the plane when they start to get low, and keep them inflated.

Oh wait, I never land. Hard to blow a tire if you never land.
 
I've blown two tires. Both tailwheels. It doesn't become really apparent until you get slow and realize rudder/tailwheel steering isn't working.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Somehow I've managed to go 3,000 hours without blowing a tire, but I've always put expensive new tires (Goodyear Flight Custom IIIs are my favorite) on the plane when they start to get low, and keep them inflated.

Oh wait, I never land. Hard to blow a tire if you never land.
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@Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe and @flyingcheesehead say I'm not supposed to believe you. Probably especially since you're a CFI x 3.
 
Did you ask that MX how much he wanted for the DOLLY? Had to be cheaper than the retread and the tube. A few tie wraps and problem solved and maybe a 337...
 
FormerHangie said:
I think there is some equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome going on here. You spent $180 for a little bitty tire and tube, and paid for three hours labor to change it, and you call it cheap. I'm telling ya, paying aviation prices for stuff is changing your perspective. Hopefully as your kids get older, they won't figure that out or things could really get out of hand. :confused:
Click to expand...

I can tell that many of you have never changed an aircraft tire. Airplanes are not cars. You don't just jack it up and undo four or five nuts and have the wheel fall off. You don't just stick the wheel on the tire changer and peel the tire off and roll another one on. It isn't a 20-minute job.

Wheelpants add to the time. The axle has to come apart. The wheel has to be taken apart. You have to fool with a tube, something that the auto tire shops haven't had to mess with for 50 years. The wheel has to go back together, and that can be a pain if the tire is stiff like a Goodyear. Reassemble the axle. Maybe clean and repack the bearings if they haven't been done in a long time. Reinstall the wheelpant. And if the nosewheel got dynamically balanced, that adds a whack of time too. If it was a main, the brake had to be taken off and reinstalled as well. Then the paperwork that someone has to pay for.

I wish they were simpler, but small-diameter tires aren't. Light wheels aren't simple either. If someone would invent a quick-and-easy-and-cheap (and tubeless!) wheel/tire system he would make lots of money. Maybe. After he got it certified and PMA'd for all the different airplanes...
 
$120 ain’t a cheap tube!
 
Dan Thomas said:
I can tell that many of you have never changed an aircraft tire. Airplanes are not cars. You don't just jack it up and undo four or five nuts and have the wheel fall off. You don't just stick the wheel on the tire changer and peel the tire off and roll another one on. It isn't a 20-minute job.

Wheelpants add to the time. The axle has to come apart. The wheel has to be taken apart. You have to fool with a tube, something that the auto tire shops haven't had to mess with for 50 years. The wheel has to go back together, and that can be a pain if the tire is stiff like a Goodyear. Reassemble the axle. Maybe clean and repack the bearings if they haven't been done in a long time. Reinstall the wheelpant. And if the nosewheel got dynamically balanced, that adds a whack of time too. If it was a main, the brake had to be taken off and reinstalled as well. Then the paperwork that someone has to pay for.

I wish they were simpler, but small-diameter tires aren't. Light wheels aren't simple either. If someone would invent a quick-and-easy-and-cheap (and tubeless!) wheel/tire system he would make lots of money. Maybe. After he got it certified and PMA'd for all the different airplanes...
Click to expand...

I don't think that anyone was saying it was unjustified, I know I wasn't. But $420 for a tire replacement isn't cheap compared to what non-aviation folks would pay for a tire that size. Aviation is expensive, always has been. Same is true of motorsports, it just goes with the territory.
 
Dan Thomas said:
I can tell that many of you have never changed an aircraft tire. Airplanes are not cars. You don't just jack it up and undo four or five nuts and have the wheel fall off. You don't just stick the wheel on the tire changer and peel the tire off and roll another one on. It isn't a 20-minute job.

Wheelpants add to the time. The axle has to come apart. The wheel has to be taken apart. You have to fool with a tube, something that the auto tire shops haven't had to mess with for 50 years. The wheel has to go back together, and that can be a pain if the tire is stiff like a Goodyear. Reassemble the axle. Maybe clean and repack the bearings if they haven't been done in a long time. Reinstall the wheelpant. And if the nosewheel got dynamically balanced, that adds a whack of time too. If it was a main, the brake had to be taken off and reinstalled as well. Then the paperwork that someone has to pay for.

I wish they were simpler, but small-diameter tires aren't. Light wheels aren't simple either. If someone would invent a quick-and-easy-and-cheap (and tubeless!) wheel/tire system he would make lots of money. Maybe. After he got it certified and PMA'd for all the different airplanes...
Click to expand...

http://www.beringer-aero.com/en/
 
Dan Thomas said:
I can tell that many of you have never changed an aircraft tire. Airplanes are not cars. You don't just jack it up and undo four or five nuts and have the wheel fall off. You don't just stick the wheel on the tire changer and peel the tire off and roll another one on. It isn't a 20-minute job.

Wheelpants add to the time. The axle has to come apart. The wheel has to be taken apart. You have to fool with a tube, something that the auto tire shops haven't had to mess with for 50 years. The wheel has to go back together, and that can be a pain if the tire is stiff like a Goodyear. Reassemble the axle. Maybe clean and repack the bearings if they haven't been done in a long time. Reinstall the wheelpant. And if the nosewheel got dynamically balanced, that adds a whack of time too. If it was a main, the brake had to be taken off and reinstalled as well. Then the paperwork that someone has to pay for.

I wish they were simpler, but small-diameter tires aren't. Light wheels aren't simple either. If someone would invent a quick-and-easy-and-cheap (and tubeless!) wheel/tire system he would make lots of money. Maybe. After he got it certified and PMA'd for all the different airplanes...
Click to expand...


This is correct.
I helped him change the tire. We cussed a lot and cursed the engineers that came up with the stupidass Grumman nosewheel assembly.
It was engineered by monkeys.
 
Dang bro, I changed all 3 of mine back in April for about $350 total. Monster retreads. Did it myself though.
 
$6 for a roll of duct tape and you could have attached the dolly and been on your way.
 
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