houstondan wrote:
coolest tires i ever saw were on my t-dragger- instructor's citabria.
bottom-outside looked like somebody took a rough sander to 'em. just
ground down from flying one wing up down the runway all the tme.


That's not the wing-down technique wearing the tires; it's the
spring leaf gear that angles the tires when there's little or no weight
on them, and the outside edge always hits first on landing and gets
ground off. We run two Citabrias and three 172s, and the tires get
rotated about halfway through their life to even up the wear and get a
few more landings.
The center tread of most light aircraft tires will wear out
first because of their rounded tread profile. A squared-off profile
like we see on automobiles might wear a little better but would create
more drag, and would still suffer more center wear than an auto because
of the bulge when there's no weight on it.
My biggest gripe with aircraft tires is their out-of-roundness
and imbalance. Even a cheap auto tire that costs less than an aircraft
tire will be closer to round and better balanced. And it won't have
taken a set and have a flat spot after being parked overnight.

Dan