Lifespan of Aircraft Tyres

5. Q: What are the age limits for aircraft tires?
A. Use until the tire turns brown
B. Remove when the sidewall starts to crack
C. 10 years
D. There are none

There is no age limit for aircraft tires, provided that they are properly stored and maintained and all inspection criteria are met. Proper storage practices include keeping tires in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight and away from fluorescent lights, electric motors, and other ozone producers. Care should be taken that tires do not come in contact with oil, gasoline, jet fuel, hydraulic fluids, or similar hydrocarbons. If desired, the age of the tire can be determined from the tire’s serial number, where the first number is the year of production and the next three are the Julian date of manufacture (for example, a tire with serial number 20341111 was built on the 34th day of 2002, i.e. February 3rd). Age combined with ozone or excessive service conditions can cause cracks to form on the sidewalls or in the bottoms of the grooves (known as ozone cracking, weather checking, or groove cracking). This is not a cause for removal unless fabric is visible in the cracks.

➡ All you could want to know about aircraft tyres: http://www.goodyearaviation.com/resources/

It seems that tyres aren't changed on a regular basis, until they show signs of wear which is probably every 100 flights or so 😉

Interesting reply Joelegg,

Thanks for bringing me up to date 👍

I would have thought an airliner tyre would wear out every year, I guess I was wrong!

What you quoted Jolegg sounds like when they are storing the tires, not when they're on the plane.

Solotwo wrote:

What you quoted Jolegg sounds like when they are storing the tires, not when they're on the plane.

I actually agree, but considering the sentences/options A and B, it sounds like you're wrong

"A. Use until the tire turns brown
B. Remove when the sidewall starts to crack"

"use" and "remove"

must be used by and airplane, and removed from an airplane.. if not, what else?

Re-reading it, it does sound as if the tyres are being stored - it was early when I looked for that

Maybe this might help:

As far as money spent on replacements, a good pilot, as most
Commerical Pilots are, will be able to land the plane very smoothly.
Normal tires will give you atleast 750 cycles(takeoffs and landings)
And if you think about it, new tires for planes are alot cheaper than
new tires for cars. For a average commerical jet, new tires would run
somewhere between 25-50 dollars a piece, maximum. Which is alot
cheaper than developing and maintaining a device to spin the wheels
on a airplane during landing

Apparently, he is a certified Commercial Pilot ➡ http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=169627

😉

25-50 dollars? are you kidding? that's NOTHING!

I wanna buy a tire and have it here in my room -_-

SeanGa wrote:

25-50 dollars? are you kidding? that's NOTHING!

I wanna buy a tire and have it here in my room -_-

Yes, I don't quite understand that 😕