around 100 000 commercial planes take off and land every single day that's
almost two flights per second but
how
often have you heard of a plane's
tires blowing out during landing it's
extremely uncommon here is why plane tires are different from the tires you encounter on a day-to-day basis theyonly really resemble automobile tires in shape when it comes to tire design
special considerations have to be given to the materials used and how they integrate with the plane's safety
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features let's start with materials
you
can imagine that regular rubber
alone just isn't going to cut it for a plane's
tires that is why plane tires are
reinforced with aramid it's an
incredibly strong synthetic
fiber known for its heat resistant
properties and has a melting point
of 932 degrees fahrenheit for reference
average rubber will catch fire and
begin
melting at around 500 degrees Fahrenheit
aramid is also resistant to abrasion
which allows plane tires to be used
for
up to 500 flights that's great news
for
plane technicians as each tire can
take up to an hour to change
but the differences don't end there another
key differentiation between
plane tires and regular tires is in
commonly filled up to around 30 psi plane
tires start at 200 psi the higher
pressure makes them extremely firm
almost rock hard they better be with
commercial planes regularly clocking in
at over 100 tons tires need to be as
firm as possible to ensure they don't
give under all that weight each
plane
tire is able to withstand a weight
load of up to 38 tons
so the heavier the plane the more
tires it needs to ensure a smooth
explosion-free landing it's not just
how
plane tires are filled up that makes
a
difference either what they're
filled up with also matters instead of regular
compressed air plane tires are
filled with nitrogen while nitrogen does make
up 78 of what we understand as air
the other
gases found in air are unsuitable
for use in plane tires engineers choose to
use nitrogen due to its properties
as an
inert gas which negates the effects
that changes in temperature and pressure
would normally cause in short it's stable
aside from this plane tires also
come with a host of fail-safes to prevent
tire failure on the tarmac
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one fail-safe is actually common
among cars the anti-lock braking system or abs
abs prevents wheels from locking up
while braking these systems automatically
engage during emergency
situations when the tires are at
risk of
locking up this works in conjunction
with an anti-skid computer installed on
an airplane sensors on the wheel
communicate with
the computer to relieve brake
pressure
this prevents the loss of traction
when
braking which would quickly lead to
the explosion of the tires
another fail-safe is unique to plane
tires the fusible plug these plugs melt
once they reach a certain
temperature
threshold causing the plane's tires
to deflate safely rather than blow out
these especially come in handy
during instances where maximum braking is
applied common scenarios where this
is used include emergency landings or
aborted takeoffs the safety measures
seen in the design of a plane's
tires are but one piece of the puzzle
engineers have honed the systems
behind planes over the last century to the
point where according to statistics boarding
a plane is safer than swimming goodbye tom driving or even taking your bike out
for a ride
so the next time you find yourself
on a plane you can rest assured that nothing
will go wrong.
