Given the high potential for disaster caused by a flat tire, why don't we see solid elastomer tires on small aircraft? My wheelbarrow has one and it is awesome.
That's a darn good question !! I've versions of those tires on rough terrain reach forklifts, and some mowers, and they're awesome. Ones properly designed for light aircraft would sell like hotcakes, I'd bet.
FWIW: Having changed regular tires to "solid" tires on my riding lawn mower I can tell you this is a huge difference. The "solid" tires make the mower bounce a whole lot more even though I can only do about 10 MPH. I can only imagine how bad it would be at landing speeds.
Ditto what rocketbob said. Tried wheelchair tires on my tailwheel and didn't work. Might be ok if you lifted the tail and took the weight off the wheel every time it is parked for any significant time (mine flatted overnight).
..."solid" tires make the mower bounce a whole lot more even though I can only do about 10 MPH. I can only imagine how bad it would be at landing speeds.