Newsgroups: sci.aeronautics.airliners Path: news From: Geoff.Miller@Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller) Subject: Re: Tire burn-out during landings X-Submission-Date: 24 Dec 1992 20:54:29 GMT References: Message-ID: Approved: kls@royko.Chicago.COM Followup-To: sci.aeronautics.airliners Reply-To: Geoff.Miller@Corp.Sun.COM Organization: Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, Ca. X-Submission-Message-Id: <1hd825INN7v@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> Sender: kls@royko.Chicago.COM Date: 26 Dec 92 00:01:49 CST megazone@obsidian.WPI.EDU (MegaZone23) writes: >Spinning the wheels would indeed cut down on the tire wear, and I >believe that this has been tested. It was tested on the Lockheed Constitution, back in the late Forties or early Fifties. >When you spin a tire it acts as a gyroscope and will resists having it's >course altered. This can make handling tricky as you would have 10 or more >wheels all spinning on most airliners. Two points: First, I'd think that the mass of the spinning wheels, and therefore the magnitude of their gyroscopic effect on handling, would be insignificant compared to the mass of the rest of the airframe and payload and the power of the control surfaces. Second, assuming that the effect *was* significant, wouldn't it simply be a stabilizing influence, i.e., a resistance to changes in attitude about the longitudinal (roll) axis? That doesn't sound all that hazardous. >Plus you will have the initial cost for the system and the added weight. >It is one more system to break down, etc... I suspect that this is the most likely reason this idea hasn't been implemented; tires are simply cheaper to deal with in the long run. Geoff -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Geoff Miller + + + + + + + + Sun Microsystems geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM + + + + + + + + Menlo Park, California -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-