Aircraft tire inspections are critical and unique compared to car tires; pilots must identify unusual wear (like scalloping or exposed cords) and always consult experienced professionals or A&Ps when unsure if a tire is airworthy.
Proper tire inflation is paramount for aircraft, necessitating daily pressure checks before the first flight, as tires can lose significant pressure, and improper inflation can lead to vibration and uneven wear.
Changing an aircraft tire is a complex procedure, requiring specialized tools, specific techniques, and often an A&P's guidance, due to intricate steps like disassembling the wheel and careful inner tube installation.
Common flight school tire issues include flat spots from hard braking; pilots must conduct thorough pre-flight inspections, checking the entire tire surface, and never fly an aircraft with a compromised tire.
This is not what a CFI wants to hear when the learner is doing the preflight inspection. The learner was looking at the nosewheel of the Cessna 150, specifically, at a scalloped pattern on the side of the tire. She’d never seen this before—and frankly, in my more than 30 years of flying, neither had I. But I knew ugly when I saw it.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
