Flat Tires?

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 07:41:25 -0700, "RST Engineering"
wrote:

Jay ...

You probably never noticed, but there is a 1" wide red line from the "red
dot" on the tires all the way down to the ground on the BlueOnBlue182. I
can see that sucker and line it up on the ground while I'm pulling on the
tow bar.

You paint the line on the NEW tires before you hang them on the airplane.

I'm going to invest in the new technology tubes, too, but the line is going
to remain. You're going to have to fill up the tires at SOME time, and the
red line is a cheap way of alignment.

I went with them this time when I replaced the tires on the mains. At
6 weeks they were only down 4#. I would have needed to pump up the
old ones at a minimum of every two weeks which I still do with the
nose gear tire. It gets a new tire and tube soon even if the tire is
still in pretty good shape.

It's not only a pain to find I have to pump up the tires when I get to
the hangar, but my air compressor keeps dumping the power to that row
of hangars.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Jim


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:SfkPe.280538$_o.72325@attbi_s71...


Well, I'm thinking of taking Don's advice, and painting a line on the
floor of the hangar...

On 24-Aug-2005, Jack Allison wrote:

Then again, I do have to remove the hubcaps to air up the mains...but
that's beside the point.


We've got the LoPresti hubcaps on our Arrow IV. They have little doors that
open to expose the valve stem. Works very well.

--
-Elliott Drucker

Jay: I have used fix a flat for several years in my warrior, too dumb
to worry about the legality of it. Then a couple of years ago the
practice came up in this group and I called the FSDO in San
Antonio. He curtly informed me that the regs didn't mention fix a
flat, so I figured if he wasn't going to worry about it then I wouldn't
either.
The use helped a lot on the mains but the nose wheel still needed help.
I just recently changed to metal caps, maybe that is the culprit. Leo

Jay: I have used fix a flat for several years in my warrior, too dumb
to worry about the legality of it. Then a couple of years ago the
practice came up in this group and I called the FSDO in San
Antonio. He curtly informed me that the regs didn't mention fix a
flat, so I figured if he wasn't going to worry about it then I wouldn't
either.
The use helped a lot on the mains but the nose wheel still needed help.
I just recently changed to metal caps, maybe that is the culprit. Leo

Did you have any balance problems after using Fix-a-Flat? Did you go out
and taxi around while it "set up", or what?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Jay: I have used fix a flat for several years in my warrior, too dumb
to worry about the legality of it. Then a couple of years ago the
practice came up in this group and I called the FSDO in San
Antonio. He curtly informed me that the regs didn't mention fix a
flat, so I figured if he wasn't going to worry about it then I wouldn't
either.
The use helped a lot on the mains but the nose wheel still needed help.
I just recently changed to metal caps, maybe that is the culprit. Leo

Did you have any balance problems after using Fix-a-Flat? Did you go out
and taxi around while it "set up", or what?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


I just put the stuff in and taxied up and down the runway a couple of
times and went flying. I honestly don't know if I have balance
problems or not. Everything seems to work ok, no odd noises, no wheel
bearing problems and there are no obvious tire wear problems like you
would have with a car. I suspect that taxi and takeoff distances are
so short that minor balance problems would not show up. I have never
seen anyone balance a cherokee wheel with weights anyway. Leo

I just put the stuff in and taxied up and down the runway a couple of
times and went flying. I honestly don't know if I have balance
problems or not. Everything seems to work ok, no odd noises, no wheel
bearing problems and there are no obvious tire wear problems like you
would have with a car. I suspect that taxi and takeoff distances are
so short that minor balance problems would not show up. I have never
seen anyone balance a cherokee wheel with weights anyway. Leo

I really don't see any downside to trying Fix-A-Flat. A lot of folks say it
gunks up the inside of the wheels (in cars) -- but we're running TUBES, so
there should be no muss or fuss.

On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that the fix-a-flat goop can
spread evenly around a tube (and dry adequately) just taxiing and taking
off. Since those tires have to spin up from zero to 70 in a split second, I
would think balance issues would be very noticeable? Dunno.

I think I'll just buy new tubes next annual...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

I think I'll just buy new tubes next annual...

Why wait, that can be signed off anytime...

I think I'll just buy new tubes next annual...

Why wait, that can be signed off anytime...

True, but I hate to do that kind of stuff mid-stream.

Unless the tire is flat, new inner tubes are one of those "as long as the
plane is up on jacks" kinda things, in my book.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article ikZQe.293072$_o.110885@attbi_s71,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I think I'll just buy new tubes next annual...

Why wait, that can be signed off anytime...

True, but I hate to do that kind of stuff mid-stream.

Unless the tire is flat, new inner tubes are one of those "as long as the
plane is up on jacks" kinda things, in my book.

Why not patch the tube? I have done it several times and have not
detected any problems. Just be sure to use the "hot patch" method.

That wasn't the point, Orval. The original discussion revolved around the
tendency of most aircraft tubes to diffuse air through the walls of the
tube -- deflate themselves by spontaneous diffusion as it were. THe reason
given was that the specification for aircraft tubes uses a material that is
obsolete in the real world but still used in the make-believe world of
aviation.

Somebody brought up the point that Desser (via Michelin?) has come up with a
"no leak" tube that is blessed for aviation use. Some of the group on here
reported that the "no leak" was in fact just that and a few of the folks
plan on switching to that tube at the next opportunity.

(You left a B out of your signature line.)

Jim



"ORVAL FAIRAIRN" wrote in message
news
In article ikZQe.293072$_o.110885@attbi_s71,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Why not patch the tube? I have done it several times and have not
detected any problems. Just be sure to use the "hot patch" method.