What do the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell X-1 and the Apollo 11 Lunar Module have in common? Somehow, each of these flying machines managed to attain an honored place in aerospace history despite having small landing gear tires or none at all. This is a paradox of sorts, considering the degree of fanaticism that oversize “tundra tires” are generating among people that buy and fly their own airplanes.
Until recently the popularity of oversize tires was largely limited to operators of single-engine aircraft used for essential transportation in rural Alaska, Canada and other places with little or no road infrastructure. But these days, many pilots who fly strictly for fun and seldom land on any surface but smooth pavement or manicured grass are putting big rubber on their airplanes as well. First a ubiquitous work tool and now a fashion statement, the tundra tire is fast becoming an icon of popular culture.
