|
As I was winding down from Oshkosh 2009 and
placing some of the spiffy new tire pressure stickers I got from
Desser Tire on the gear
doors of my B55 when I spotted this line on my wheel that I had not seen before. It
turned out to be a 2 inch long crack in the wheel casting!
This is a Goodyear Type III 5 x 5 Wheel.
Possibly the original 1965 part with about 4,300 TT.
Can you imagine this coming apart on the
takeoff or landing roll?  Let's NOT!
Here is a picture of an A36 main wheel that
had a bad day.
Here is a picture of an insidious INNER crack on a nose wheel
found by an
anonymous Bonanza owner doing a close inspection of his wheel assembly.
The morale of the story for me is:
1. Continue
doing cursory inspections and checks of these little things while I'm
tinkering in the hangar.
2. Use my annual wheel bearing greasing
activity to completely remove the tire and tube from the wheel to thoroughly
inspect for these insidious types of cracks in these decades old castings.
3. Routinely checking my tire pressures before
trips (during pre-flights) will cause me to give a good look of my wheels, calipers, brake hoses,
etc.
Remember what Mario Andretti says: "Check Your
Tires" and wheels! 
|
Check
Your Wheels & Tires Regularly