Bill Tire wear was the issue that got me thinking on this, because, the most recent thing I had to do was replace my nose tire due to wear. It had a flat spot (or two) that caused so much vibration on the runway that it seriously threatened to damage the aircraft around rotation speed.
This is what got me thinking about nose tire wear on asphalt. Since there is no nose-wheel brake, I figure there is not other way to get wear spots except dragging the tire on landing..or on crosswind take-off. Grins, Dave -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William R. Bayne Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 12:15 AM To: 'Ercoupe Tech Forum' Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Re: snubber cable HOW THIS ROUND STARTED Hi Dave, Comments below. WRB -- On Mar 15, 2009, at 23:25, David Winters wrote: All, Ummmm. I am the one who started this round of snubber-cable discussions. The Coupe was designed when most strips were grass surfaced. 100% correct. I have pictures of original nose tires without tread. How many of you know that the nose wheel tire specified for the Ercoupe was originally manufactured as a tail wheel tire for big birds? So, dragging the nose-wheel a bit sideways on landing was no big deal. But, dragging a nose wheel sideways across today's asphalt can cause some serious tire wear. The snubber-cable may help to minimize this. Dave W Without doubt one would lead to the other, but one would have to literally take the nose wheel off the plane to actually do what you so vividly describe. Any "scrubbing" of the nose tire (presuming the pilot is not forcing same via the yoke) at touchdown is as short and quick as the "built-in" course correction to runway heading and the "chirp" from the mains as they accelerate from zero to whatever rpms they turn at landing speed. It's virtually instantaneous and the slower one touches down, the less wear occurs. Are you personally aware of ANY nose wheel tires replaced due to wear? I hear about replacement for imbalance, weather checking, foreign object damage, etc.; but NEVER for wear. Maybe Lynn, Paul, Bill and our other professionals can weigh in with more experience replacing nose wheel tires. For further context I personally put over 600 landings on the pair of retread main gear tires my first coupe came with (already well used), including more crosswind operation (practice) than "most". NO visible wear.
