Well, for a monent I thought I should post that in the "There I was..." section, but in fact, it wasn't all that bad....
After spending a couple hours out in New Braunfels (TX) this gorgeous afternoon, I had a nice tailwind back to Houston. A normal traffic pattern, no crosswind, and a normal approach was followed by a very small skip on touchdown (a good landing for me!). It was a nice wheelie, and as I lowered the tail, I started to get a bunch of skipping around just about the time the tail touched. There was a little pull to the right, but nothing the rudder couldn't handle. I was convinced I had a shimmying tailwheel until I got down to about 20 knots, when I started getting that lope, lope, lope feeling of rolling on a flat main. There was suddenly a lot of drag, and I could tell I better get off at the very first opportunity, becasue she was going to be stuck wherever I let it stop. If you've never had a flat on a light plane - there is no chock more effective than a flat tire!
Off the side of the taxiway, it was clear that the right wheel pant was holding up the airplane. Two of us got under the wing spar and lifted with our backs, while someone else (A nice day brings lots of people to the airport!) pulled the forward end of the pant and shot some air into the tire. First mystery - it held air! We set the plane back down on the tire, and couldn't believe it was still up, as flat as it had been. I hopped in, fired up, and quickly taxiied back to the hangar. There, I jacked it up, pulled the rest of the pant, and removd the wheel. Second Mystery - It was still holding air! The valve stem was bent in towards the axle a bit, but otherwise, it was normal. There were two sharp gashes - as if they had been made with a razor knife - in the sidewall of the tire, but they didn't go through the carcass.
So, I have a total mystery - the tire was totally flat from something that happened on a skip, and now it holds air. No, I am not going to fly with it again - I'm taking the opportunity to order leak-stop tubes and new tires (and I guess it will take a few evenings to fix the wheel pant...) I had checked the tires on Friday, and they were both at 35 psi, which is where I've been running them for 90 hours.....The slits in the sidewall of the flat tire suggest that the edge of the pant might have done the cutting. But nothing explains how it could have been flat and now hold air....
OK, the floor is open for suggestions !
Paul
(New fiberglass on wheel pant setting up in garage...)
After spending a couple hours out in New Braunfels (TX) this gorgeous afternoon, I had a nice tailwind back to Houston. A normal traffic pattern, no crosswind, and a normal approach was followed by a very small skip on touchdown (a good landing for me!). It was a nice wheelie, and as I lowered the tail, I started to get a bunch of skipping around just about the time the tail touched. There was a little pull to the right, but nothing the rudder couldn't handle. I was convinced I had a shimmying tailwheel until I got down to about 20 knots, when I started getting that lope, lope, lope feeling of rolling on a flat main. There was suddenly a lot of drag, and I could tell I better get off at the very first opportunity, becasue she was going to be stuck wherever I let it stop. If you've never had a flat on a light plane - there is no chock more effective than a flat tire!
Off the side of the taxiway, it was clear that the right wheel pant was holding up the airplane. Two of us got under the wing spar and lifted with our backs, while someone else (A nice day brings lots of people to the airport!) pulled the forward end of the pant and shot some air into the tire. First mystery - it held air! We set the plane back down on the tire, and couldn't believe it was still up, as flat as it had been. I hopped in, fired up, and quickly taxiied back to the hangar. There, I jacked it up, pulled the rest of the pant, and removd the wheel. Second Mystery - It was still holding air! The valve stem was bent in towards the axle a bit, but otherwise, it was normal. There were two sharp gashes - as if they had been made with a razor knife - in the sidewall of the tire, but they didn't go through the carcass.
So, I have a total mystery - the tire was totally flat from something that happened on a skip, and now it holds air. No, I am not going to fly with it again - I'm taking the opportunity to order leak-stop tubes and new tires (and I guess it will take a few evenings to fix the wheel pant...) I had checked the tires on Friday, and they were both at 35 psi, which is where I've been running them for 90 hours.....The slits in the sidewall of the flat tire suggest that the edge of the pant might have done the cutting. But nothing explains how it could have been flat and now hold air....
OK, the floor is open for suggestions !
Paul
(New fiberglass on wheel pant setting up in garage...)