Changing *BIG* Aircraft Tires [Was Coalition casualties forseptember]

Peter Stickney wrote:

for that matter, necessarily any greater. Working on the tires of a
heavy truck, or, to keep thinga a bit on topic, a fairly good-sized
airplane has quite a bit of risk involved. Go down to the local

Which brings up the question of precisely what is the method for
changing tires on really large aircraft? Pretty much the same as
heavy construction equipment (which I don't know about either)?

Do aircraft use split rims like some 18-wheeler trucks do to facilitate
tire changes, or is there some big hydraulic machine that squeezes the
tire, breaking the rim seal or forcing the tire bead over the rim, just
as with automotive tires?

What aircraft has the largest tires??? C-5? An-335? I'm thinking tire
size in volume I suppose. What aircraft has had the largest tires?
(Since we now seem to substitute lots of small wheels to replace large
ones on modern aircraft, it's probably an older aircraft with actual
largest wheels/tires).


SMH