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Spare Tire


SantosDumont

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Yesterday I flew over to VNY and got a flat tire when going over the speed bump in the fuel area.  Luckily for me there was a mechanic right there with access to spare parts who was able to help me. I was able to get the tire change out in 90 minutes.  
 

That made me start thinking what I would do if that happened to me at any of the places I go where there are no services available.  I’ve had a flat nose wheel on the ramp at KSAN and they basically told me good luck. 

Does anyone else carry around spare tires?  I also think if I bought another wheel and had it already mounted that it wouldn’t be as bad to deal with as having to jack the plane up, remove the tire, take it apart, etc vs just slapping the new tire on. 

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Price aircraft wheels (and factor in that the mains and nose wheels are different) and think about how often you get a flat (I’ve had one in 40 years when a student locked up the brakes on a Saratoga during a checkout trying to impress me with how short he could land) and you might decide it’s not worth it. 

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Getting off the active runway with a flat may be a challenge...

19 years... no flat tires... 20+ including training...

I have flat spotted a couple...

Might be good to have a spare tube in the collection... but, properly installed tubes don’t usually fail...

How did the speed bump cause the tire to go flat?

PP thoughts only...

Best regards,

-a-

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2 minutes ago, Rwsavory said:

I have found that carrying a spare part in your plane insures that you will never need to use it.

Same with getting trained...

To avoid having to do any hard math... 5 semesters of calculus training has worked incredibly well... :)

Pick the things you are most afraid of... get trained, carry spares...

have a credit card... a debit card... a cell phone... a friend with a credit card, debit card, cellphone... business cards of your favorite MSC, and home drome...

Best regards,

-a-

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Santos, if you can...

Take a look at the bad tire tube...

See if you can see any signs of it being pinched or folding over on itself...

look for wear marks around the tube / valve interface...

These are some of the things that have been reported around MS for tube failures...

Its hard to believe a tube can get folded, creased, and still work for a really long time...

There was a quality issue with one of the tube suppliers with the valve stem not adhering very well...

Low tire pressure can have the tube move and cut the stem in the hole...

PP stuff I have read around here... not my actual experience...

Best regards,

-a-

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1 hour ago, PT20J said:

Price aircraft wheels (and factor in that the mains and nose wheels are different) and think about how often you get a flat (I’ve had one in 40 years when a student locked up the brakes on a Saratoga during a checkout trying to impress me with how short he could land) and you might decide it’s not worth it. 

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I guess I'm unlucky?  This is the 2nd flat tire I've had in 3 years.  Crown Air wanted to charge me $500 to come over to KSAN to change my nose tire.  Call out labor is expensive.  For $500 I could probably just carry around a nose spare.  

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1 hour ago, SantosDumont said:

I guess I'm unlucky?  This is the 2nd flat tire I've had in 3 years.  Crown Air wanted to charge me $500 to come over to KSAN to change my nose tire.  Call out labor is expensive.  For $500 I could probably just carry around a nose spare.  

Spruce gets $1035 for a Cleveland nose wheel assy. That's without tire and tube.

But these are tube-type tires so the leak is in the tube unless you ran the tire down through the cords or flat spotted it. All you really need is a tube patch kit. But then, you still need to jack it up somehow and carry all the right tools.

What cause the punctures?

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2 hours ago, SantosDumont said:

I guess I'm unlucky?  This is the 2nd flat tire I've had in 3 years.  Crown Air wanted to charge me $500 to come over to KSAN to change my nose tire.  Call out labor is expensive.  For $500 I could probably just carry around a nose spare.  

Like an entire wheel? I guess you’d have to inspect the bearings in that at annual too. What about main wheels too?

 

-Robert 

Edited by RobertGary1
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1 hour ago, MooneyMitch said:

I hate being stranded away from my home airport!

Thats why I carry spare tires, radios, extra cylinders, generator, fuel pump, spark plugs, wing jacks, tool caddy ....... one never knows !! :lol:

Kidding of course..... have a happy day !  Go Nats !! 

I got you beat!!  I tow a spare Mooney with a spare pilot whenever I leave my home airport.   In case if both Mooney or I (the pilot) is not able to carry on the mission.  :lol:

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I keep a spare nose and main tube in my box in the hat rack.. I've had a flat of each even though neither was more than 5 years old. Something about the C ate up the stem/tube attach point.

Losing the nose on touchdown was more excitement than I'd bargained for.

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2 hours ago, PT20J said:

Spruce gets $1035 for a Cleveland nose wheel assy. That's without tire and tube.

But these are tube-type tires so the leak is in the tube unless you ran the tire down through the cords or flat spotted it. All you really need is a tube patch kit. But then, you still need to jack it up somehow and carry all the right tools.

What cause the punctures?

I am betting low tire pressure and rotated the tire and ripped the stem.   I carry both tubes and small compressor.

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2 hours ago, corn_flake said:

I got you beat!!  I tow a spare Mooney with a spare pilot whenever I leave my home airport.   In case if both Mooney or I (the pilot) is not able to carry on the mission.  :lol:

This is called going to a Mooney fly-in...

When seriously concerned about completion... you fly to only Mooney Fly-in’s At @orionflt’s airport... Brian gave a hot start lesson.

If concerned about your avionics floundering.... make sure Alan Fox is going to be there as well... Alan fixed me up with a transponder on the fly... down in Florida...

How far can you see down the road..?

Thinking about formation flying?  Not the fastest way to travel... but the options are pretty good... I got dinner with Seth one day as a result...   :)  he was pushing a Cirrus....

So many options...

Don’t forget... MS is open 24/7... you are never completely alone...

When you are on the road and grease has escaped your prop’s hub... If you are at my home drome, I can introduce you to my favorite mechanical staff... one MSer took me up on this offer...

We have a list of home dromes if you don’t mind sharing yours...

PP thoughts only, not a social guru, and I don’t have the home drome list...

Best regards,

-a-

 

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10 hours ago, SantosDumont said:

Yesterday I flew over to VNY and got a flat tire when going over the speed bump in the fuel area.  Luckily for me there was a mechanic right there with access to spare parts who was able to help me. I was able to get the tire change out in 90 minutes.  
 

That made me start thinking what I would do if that happened to me at any of the places I go where there are no services available.  I’ve had a flat nose wheel on the ramp at KSAN and they basically told me good luck. 

Does anyone else carry around spare tires?  I also think if I bought another wheel and had it already mounted that it wouldn’t be as bad to deal with as having to jack the plane up, remove the tire, take it apart, etc vs just slapping the new tire on. 

I carry tubes for main and nose for the same reason.. I blew a tire at an unattended airport on a Sunday afternoon a few summers ago. There was a derelict 201 on the field that hadn’t moved in ages. After 3 phone calls I reached its care taker and was given permission to transplant a wheel. We were across the state line in West “by god” Virginia so leaving the poor 201 on blocks seems apropos. I was on my way in a 45 mins. I flew back a week later and reinstalled the borrowed tire. Nice IA at that airport. We had a few mutual friends and he gave me permission to use his jack over the phone.

my F

A29B7B8D-4502-4FE3-8EE9-C2D704CF3036.thumb.jpeg.a37aff8fd0c98993fed00c4f17e9b0ec.jpeg

The donor 201.

E3A3EB65-3A4A-4848-BE47-7EE015E090E0.thumb.jpeg.c5c4cd4bb32ee975924bd1238ec00dd0.jpeg

Edited by Shadrach
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18 minutes ago, smwash02 said:

@Shadrach how did you jack the wheel? I've been fortunate to always be somewhere with a wing or prop jack. I've been banking on having one available, but an autoshop alternative is something I've been brainstorming to be able to self-service if it came down to it.

The mechanic called a local EAA guy for me and he met me with a key to the mechanic’s hangar. IIRC, I used a bottle jack and a piece of pipe through the main gear link.

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3 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

So this (thread hijack) is quite timely as I have been looking to setup across Europe a sort of "automobile Association" to cover just this type of thing.  Lets say you are in KXXX and you get a flat, or engine wont start, if you were in your car, you would phone the AA and out they would come and change your tyre, get you started etc.  So a system similar for light aircraft in theory would work as well, add in a piece of insurance that covers major engine repair issues, or corrosion issues (ie replaces spar caps if corroded, engine if jugs are burnt etc) then we have removed one of the major scare factors of aeroplane ownership and it becomes a simple monthly cost.  (Provided we can get the premium down enough). Has anyone heard of such a thing for light aircraft inthe usa?

Savvy Maintenance has their breakdown service.  That program is probably as close as we come to what you are describing.  @kortopates

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16 hours ago, corn_flake said:

I got you beat!!  I tow a spare Mooney with a spare pilot whenever I leave my home airport.   In case if both Mooney or I (the pilot) is not able to carry on the mission.  :lol:

Is the pilots name Otto?  :-) 

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16 hours ago, carusoam said:

 

If concerned about your avionics floundering.... make sure Alan Fox is going to be there as well... Alan fixed me up with a transponder on the fly... down in Florida...Best regards,

 

 

swapping transponders not so easy anymore with ADSB out.  :o:ph34r::huh:

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I thought about carrying a spare tire actually 2 of them.  I did have a nose wheel flat and it was only 15 minute flight from my home base it was late on a Sunday afternoon.  There was a mechanic on the field and he supplied new tire and tube.  It was expensive but I was on my way in about an hour.:huh:

 

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