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Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
I recently saw that Michelin won another 10 year contract with Air France for aircraft tyres supplies. This leads me to wonder how many cycles aircraft tyres can reasonably sustain on average ? What are the other key supplier of such tyres ? For what price on average ?
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
BFGoodrich, Bridgestone and Dunlop are also other suppliers I know of. Prices and cycles, I will leave for more experienced people to answer.
A 319/320/321,A 330-200/300, A 340-300/500/600, B 737-300/400/500,B 737-700/800,B 747-300/400,B 767-200 ER/300 ER, B 777-200/200 ER,CRJ 200/900/1000,DHC-8-300/Q 300, DC-10, ERJ-195,MD-11
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
5NFGS wrote:BFGoodrich, Bridgestone and Dunlop are also other suppliers I know of. Prices and cycles, I will leave for more experienced people to answer.
Don't forget Michelin.
Viper911
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
robby31 wrote:This leads me to wonder how many cycles aircraft tyres can reasonably sustain on average?
My company wore out a set of brand new nose wheel tyres in 30 days. 12 cycles a day with a every third airport being one with a very long taxi distance. Single engine taxi was found to put heavy wear on them, so we switched to dual engine taxi which saved a lot of wear.
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Note that aircraft tyres are re-treaded, up to a fixed number of times. I wasn't an engineer, but I seem to think the limit is about 6 re-treads.
Life depends on usage of course, the main determinant being brake application. I once read some Swissair literature which said 80 landings. Ours were replaced when the tread grooves were just about gone, or of course if there was other damage.
Standing by for an engineer to give us some real info....
Life depends on usage of course, the main determinant being brake application. I once read some Swissair literature which said 80 landings. Ours were replaced when the tread grooves were just about gone, or of course if there was other damage.
Standing by for an engineer to give us some real info....
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
I found this very interesting:
Source
Posted a few years ago in this topic: viewtopic.php?t=1348429#p19210671
Lebombo has used 3384 tyres at a cost of R10 000 each – R30.4 million - nearly double the purchase price of the aircraft.
Source
Posted a few years ago in this topic: viewtopic.php?t=1348429#p19210671
Some aviation photo's on my Flickr-page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iemand91/
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Viper911 wrote:5NFGS wrote:BFGoodrich, Bridgestone and Dunlop are also other suppliers I know of. Prices and cycles, I will leave for more experienced people to answer.
Don't forget Michelin.
Viper911
How about Goodyear, don't they supply the aviation world with tires?
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Do they require tire rotation and balancing like a regular car?
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Goodyear definitely used to some years ago. Their warehouse was next to ours. It always fascinated me how large even the nose wheel tyres are, let alone MLG which are really massive.
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- aileron1999
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
I asked a Goodyear rep at Oshkosh a few years ago this very question. I was specifically asking about the B737, which I fly. He said that the rack rate on a B737 main tire is almost 10k. However nobody pays that much. He said a large operator likely pays around 4k for a tire. Also many operators lease their tires and they are re-treaded which lowers the overall cost. As for tire life he stated about 250 landings on average for a B737 main tire with lots a variables affecting that. Interestingly he stated that the number one predictor for tire life and the ability to re-tread it is proper tire inflation. You can imagine the stress an aircraft tire goes through plus the huge temperature extremes from sitting on the ramp at 100F to -55F in 30 minutes. He stated that the airlines don't do a very good job keeping the pressure at optimum levels. They keep them safe but not always optimum for tire longevity. When the pressure is not optimum, it leads to the sidewall breaking down which does not allow it to be re-treaded. The 30-40 minutes I spent with the guy was actually one of the most interesting things I did at Oshkosh that year and there are lots of cool things at Oshkosh.
Eric
Eric
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- Weatherwatcher1
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Up to 500 landings before getting retreaded. Depends on the airplane type and operation. Some tires will get retreaded mainly times (maybe 6 or 7 times) but others may only get retreaded twice. Again it depends on the airline operation and airplane type.
If you want to buy a used one, there are plenty available on various internet sites.
If you want to buy a used one, there are plenty available on various internet sites.
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- Phosphorus
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
If you operate an ex-Soviet type, you HAD four possible sources of tyres for your airplane (all Russian): Omsk Tyre, Krasnoyarsk Tyre, Barnaul Tyre, Yaroslavl Tyre. The type of equipment you flew dictated who is the supplier. Eventually, three companies quit this business, and from what I understand, sold their equipment and documentation to Barnaul Tyre. So, if you happen to operate a Soviet airplane, for your tyre supply, you have a choice of:
1) buying from Barnaul, if they make it. At the price they name
2) buying a retread. Possible, but gotta be careful. Afterall, a lot of equipment was retired, and tyres and other consumables could be recycled/salvaged.
3) looking for options. To keep it legit, you'd have to go to airplane OEM (meaning design house: Tupolev, Ilyushin, etc.) and finding a way to amend paperwork, to introduce another type/manufacturer (mindbogglingly complicated and/or expensive. I doubt anyone wants to do this, but possible).
4) something else (not necessarily fully legit)...
Interestingly, at the end of their useful life (after all retread options are exhausted), aircraft tyres could still be in good shape -- just not legal to fly. In ex-USSR, I saw airport vehicles wearing those. I would gather these tyres are not street legal -- but an airport is not a street, no traffic cops to check treads.
Useless tidbit -- aircraft tyres were among the last tyre types to see conversion from cross-ply (X-ply, diagonal) construction to radial. However, the switch is gradual, and is still ongoing.
1) buying from Barnaul, if they make it. At the price they name
2) buying a retread. Possible, but gotta be careful. Afterall, a lot of equipment was retired, and tyres and other consumables could be recycled/salvaged.
3) looking for options. To keep it legit, you'd have to go to airplane OEM (meaning design house: Tupolev, Ilyushin, etc.) and finding a way to amend paperwork, to introduce another type/manufacturer (mindbogglingly complicated and/or expensive. I doubt anyone wants to do this, but possible).
4) something else (not necessarily fully legit)...
Interestingly, at the end of their useful life (after all retread options are exhausted), aircraft tyres could still be in good shape -- just not legal to fly. In ex-USSR, I saw airport vehicles wearing those. I would gather these tyres are not street legal -- but an airport is not a street, no traffic cops to check treads.
Useless tidbit -- aircraft tyres were among the last tyre types to see conversion from cross-ply (X-ply, diagonal) construction to radial. However, the switch is gradual, and is still ongoing.
AN4 A40 L4T TU3 TU5 IL6 ILW I93 F50 F70 100 146 ARJ AT7 DH4 L10 CRJ ERJ E90 E95 DC-9 MD-8X YK4 YK2 SF3 S20 319 320 321 332 333 343 346 722 732 733 734 735 73G 738 739 744 74M 757 767 777
Ceterum autem censeo, Moscovia esse delendam
Ceterum autem censeo, Moscovia esse delendam
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Ziyulu wrote:Do they require tire rotation and balancing like a regular car?
Rotated? No.
Balanced at buildup.
I looked at our jumbos a while ago, and I seem to recall between 70 & 80 cycles for the body gear and 100 - 120 for the wing. Can’t recall if I looked at the nose. We had an aircraft eating tires in a certain position and were trying to understand why, since the anti-skid and autobrake systems were checking good.
When seconds count, the police are minutes away, or may not come at all.
It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person. ~B. Murray
Ego Bibere Capulus, Ut Aliis Sit Vivere
It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person. ~B. Murray
Ego Bibere Capulus, Ut Aliis Sit Vivere
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
I know on a Dash 8-100, we were averaging (approx) a main tire every 3 months (6-7 cycles per day so around 600 cycles) and nose wheels every 2 months, or approx. 400 cycles. We always changed the nose wheels in pairs. Someone mentioned retreads and in my experience, retreads on the nose of the Dash lasted about two weeks longer than a new tire. The retread had a deeper tread than a new tire believe it or not.
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
C-5, from memory, had a tire life of 125 landings, so with 28 tires they averaged a tire change every 5 landings. I did 61 touch and goes and 3 no-flap full stops one busy week, a lot of tires.
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- notaxonrotax
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Discarded aircraft tires, new or old, are welcomed in other industries:
No Tax On Rotax
No Tax On Rotax
For anybody that happens to be wondering:"yes, owning your own aircraft is a 100% worth it!"
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
notaxonrotax wrote:Discarded aircraft tires, new or old, are welcomed in other industries:
Dear Rotax,
I can confirm that. My uncle owns a farm in Germany and his manure trailer was equipped with 4 large aircraft tires. They were much less inflated (about 2bar / 29psi) to better distribute the load on a large surface. Works like a charm and there is plenty of supply.
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- airportugal310
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
Sometimes if you get a write-up for a nosewheel shimmy, both tires will be replaced to save time. Easier than trying to figure out which tire(s) is out of whack and take a bigger delay as a result. Not saying its the right way, just saying its one way...
“They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.”
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- notaxonrotax
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
hitower3 wrote:notaxonrotax wrote:Discarded aircraft tires, new or old, are welcomed in other industries:
Dear Rotax,
I can confirm that. My uncle owns a farm in Germany and his manure trailer was equipped with 4 large aircraft tires. They were much less inflated (about 2bar / 29psi) to better distribute the load on a large surface. Works like a charm and there is plenty of supply.
I can imagine......
They are worth "manure", and yet of great quality!
Cheers,
No Tax On Rotax
For anybody that happens to be wondering:"yes, owning your own aircraft is a 100% worth it!"
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
airportugal310 wrote:Sometimes if you get a write-up for a nosewheel shimmy, both tires will be replaced to save time. Easier than trying to figure out which tire(s) is out of whack and take a bigger delay as a result. Not saying its the right way, just saying its one way...
Most AMMs will have both nose wheel tires changed at a time, it’s not just for ease of work.
Re: Average number of cycles for aircraft tyres ? Who are the main suppliers ?
GalaxyFlyer wrote:
Most AMMs will have both nose wheel tires changed at a time, it’s not just for ease of work.
I’ve worked most Boeing’s, a Douglas or two, and some Airbus...even a Lockheed, and I don’t I’ve ever seen a recommendation to replace both nose wheel assemblies. Yes, I have seen a comparison check in response to a shimmy problem.
When seconds count, the police are minutes away, or may not come at all.
It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person. ~B. Murray
Ego Bibere Capulus, Ut Aliis Sit Vivere
It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person. ~B. Murray
Ego Bibere Capulus, Ut Aliis Sit Vivere
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