MSFT-1
Well Known Member
I did a long cross country flight this weekend (to Maine and back from Virginia). Beautiful conditions, easy flying.
I stopped at a small private airpark to look around a bit. When I taxiied into the grassy area they had designated "Transient Parking", I hit an unmarked drainage hole with my left main wheel. It busted the heck out the wheel pant. Needless to say, I used a few "Navy" words as I laid under the airplane taking both wheelpants off for the remainder of the trip. I was also pretty P.O.'d thinking about the cost of a new wheelpant, paint etc. Bad news.
But there was good news too. This was the first time I had taken the wheelpants off since the last annual (August 08). I could now clearly see that one of my mains was worn to the point that two of the plies had separated. They are six ply tires and probably were not in imminent danger of failing completely, but you never know. So I guess the silverlining of my little dark cloud is that I potentially averted a much more serious and dangerous situation by breaking that wheelpant.
One more funny angle to the story. My father who as an A&P mechanic nearly 30 years ago, happened to have two brand new (well, 30 year old) tires in his basement that fit my airplane. He laughed that he had always thought he might want them for something. It was actually fun bonding with my 80 year old father as the two of us labored under the airplane in the blazing hot sun replacing tires.
For those that are interested, I think I lost about 5 to 6 knots by having the wheelpants off.
Lessons learned:
1) check tire pressure between annuals (I am planning to mod my wheelpants to include a small access door to the valve stem). I think the worn tire was significantly low on air pressure and I didn't know it because the wheelpant covers the tire almost completely).
2) Be extra careful taxiing in grassy areas that you are unfamiliar with. This could just have easily been a prop strike.
3) Be nice to your father.
I stopped at a small private airpark to look around a bit. When I taxiied into the grassy area they had designated "Transient Parking", I hit an unmarked drainage hole with my left main wheel. It busted the heck out the wheel pant. Needless to say, I used a few "Navy" words as I laid under the airplane taking both wheelpants off for the remainder of the trip. I was also pretty P.O.'d thinking about the cost of a new wheelpant, paint etc. Bad news.
But there was good news too. This was the first time I had taken the wheelpants off since the last annual (August 08). I could now clearly see that one of my mains was worn to the point that two of the plies had separated. They are six ply tires and probably were not in imminent danger of failing completely, but you never know. So I guess the silverlining of my little dark cloud is that I potentially averted a much more serious and dangerous situation by breaking that wheelpant.
One more funny angle to the story. My father who as an A&P mechanic nearly 30 years ago, happened to have two brand new (well, 30 year old) tires in his basement that fit my airplane. He laughed that he had always thought he might want them for something. It was actually fun bonding with my 80 year old father as the two of us labored under the airplane in the blazing hot sun replacing tires.
For those that are interested, I think I lost about 5 to 6 knots by having the wheelpants off.
Lessons learned:
1) check tire pressure between annuals (I am planning to mod my wheelpants to include a small access door to the valve stem). I think the worn tire was significantly low on air pressure and I didn't know it because the wheelpant covers the tire almost completely).
2) Be extra careful taxiing in grassy areas that you are unfamiliar with. This could just have easily been a prop strike.
3) Be nice to your father.
