I didn't land with a flat, as it happened in the 30 seconds I waited for my takeoff clearance. Clearance granted, I tried to taxi to the runway, but could not roll at all, just did a 360 around my right leg, regardless of how much left brake and rudder. I was convinced my right brake was stuck. Tower let me shut down and hop out for an inspection, wheel pant is on the ground, tire as flat as can be.
My first thought, "there is no way they can tow this tail dragger (RV-4)". Tow cart shows up, and yea, not going to happen. So I hitch a ride back to the hangar (3/4 to 1 mile probably), load up the FBO golf cart with my tools, borrow a jack and air tank from them, but we can't find a tire patch anywhere. The fbo guy looks in the toolbox and sees some tape, superglue, adhesive backed Velcro, windex, we grab it all.
Back at the plane, I go into pit crew mode and have that wheel pant off in 2 minutes. I fill the tire just to see if it will hold long enough to taxi away, nope, flat in 30 seconds. I have the wheel and tire off in about 10 minutes, all while planes taxi in and run up (luckily I was safely tucked in at the corner of the runup area). Inspect the tire, find nothing. Pull and inflate the tube, find a small hole in the tread area.
Now for the patch. Oops we forgot sand paper, so the fbo guy grabs a rock and scuffs the area. I clean it with windex and paper towels. He dabs some super glue on the hole. We put a small square of the Velcro over the hole and squeeze it for a little while. We air it up and it seems to hold. 10 minutes later I have it all back together and we set the plane back on the ground. Still holding! I hop in and taxi back to the hangar, and 2 hours later, still holding air! Rest assured, the plane will receive a new tube and also a new tire before I fly again.
All this had me wondering, I taxied all that way just fine, and the tire went flat in the last 30 seconds as I waited for clearance. What if I didn't have to wait that 30 seconds, and took off a right away? The tire would have gone flat in the air and I would have only known upon landing. What is it like to land a tail dragger with a flat? I expect it would be a really bad time. This also makes me wonder, can I put one of those tire pressure sensors in there, just like my Honda has?
My first thought, "there is no way they can tow this tail dragger (RV-4)". Tow cart shows up, and yea, not going to happen. So I hitch a ride back to the hangar (3/4 to 1 mile probably), load up the FBO golf cart with my tools, borrow a jack and air tank from them, but we can't find a tire patch anywhere. The fbo guy looks in the toolbox and sees some tape, superglue, adhesive backed Velcro, windex, we grab it all.
Back at the plane, I go into pit crew mode and have that wheel pant off in 2 minutes. I fill the tire just to see if it will hold long enough to taxi away, nope, flat in 30 seconds. I have the wheel and tire off in about 10 minutes, all while planes taxi in and run up (luckily I was safely tucked in at the corner of the runup area). Inspect the tire, find nothing. Pull and inflate the tube, find a small hole in the tread area.
Now for the patch. Oops we forgot sand paper, so the fbo guy grabs a rock and scuffs the area. I clean it with windex and paper towels. He dabs some super glue on the hole. We put a small square of the Velcro over the hole and squeeze it for a little while. We air it up and it seems to hold. 10 minutes later I have it all back together and we set the plane back on the ground. Still holding! I hop in and taxi back to the hangar, and 2 hours later, still holding air! Rest assured, the plane will receive a new tube and also a new tire before I fly again.
All this had me wondering, I taxied all that way just fine, and the tire went flat in the last 30 seconds as I waited for clearance. What if I didn't have to wait that 30 seconds, and took off a right away? The tire would have gone flat in the air and I would have only known upon landing. What is it like to land a tail dragger with a flat? I expect it would be a really bad time. This also makes me wonder, can I put one of those tire pressure sensors in there, just like my Honda has?