Check "shutting down airport" off my bucket list

Adam Weiss

Adam Weiss

Pre-takeoff checklist
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kcmopilot
After 1300nm, just landed at the final destination of my trip.
On touchdown, my right main tire immediately blew out.
I skidded to a halt on the runway.

For the life of me, I can't understand what happened.
It wasn't my best landing, but it wasn't that bad, either.

Fortunately, it was late at night, and there was only one other plane in the area trying to land.
Tower redirected him.
With the help of my brother and a nice bystander, I got the front half of the wheel pant off, and we were able to lift the wing and pull on the plane to get it off the runway.

All in all, everything worked out fine.
But I'm still wracking my brain thinking what I could have done differently.
 
Probably nothing you did.

I had the same thing happen once... after a landing that was (if I may say so) beautiful and smooth and I was feeling so proud of it. Then: "Where is this <grunt> terrible crosswind coming <aaaauugghh> from? Wait... why can't I <uuggghh> steer?"

Tower: "Exit at Bravo."
Me: "Uhhh.... I'm having some kind of... uhhh... problem..."
Tower: "Looks like your right main tire is blown."
Me: "Uhhh.... could you send out some help?"

Fortunately, this was at Concord CA, which has four runways. So I only shut down one of them.

My dad was supposed to meet me there. Tower had called the Ops truck in, who had called for a tug... I called my dad on my cell phone and said, "So... I blew a tire, and it'll be a little while, out here on the runway," and he said "I know." Turns out there's a little outdoor playground next to the fence at Concord, where they pipe the Tower frequency over the speakers for all spectators to hear. He had both seen and heard the whole thing.
 
Until the tire/tube is examined to determine why it failed, you can't presume it had anything to do with your piloting technique. Sometimes something as simple as an underinflated tire will rotate a bit on the rim and shear the tube valve stem.

Pause long enough to have a good look at the type of failure and if the cause can be determined, and then you can go back to beating yourself up.:D
 
Oh, btw, things could be worse. Much worse in terms of how you can block a runway. ;)

Many years ago I was on my way to OSH for the show. Was planning an overnight at a Minnesota airport.
Beautiful summer evening as we approached. One plane in the circuit, a tandem-seat Pilatus (former military trainer, I gather). Pilot was solo, doing circuits, and really ripping up the pattern with that baby (from the timing of the position calls). Me and my 160 Cherokee horses announced we were going to enter the downwind and try to space behind to avoid inconveniencing the much speedier incumbent. Next thing I'm turning base and there's a Mayday call and urgent announcement the runway is blocked. :eek: Yup, gear up. :( After using the crosswind runway to land and taxi in, the ramp attendant told me the pilot was a recently retired Northwest captain, had bought the airplane the week before, and he'd been flying it extensively, including more than an hour in the circuit before we arrived. I felt a bit guilty thinking our insertion into the circuit might have been the distracting change that caused him to forget.
 
I've always said I thought it a bad idea to do Touch and Gos in complex aircraft. I've always been scoffed at. The pilot is in charge of lowering the gear. If he doesn't it's on him, and not on anyone on the radio.
 
What I’m hearing: OP had a sudden tire blowout when landing in dark conditions and didn’t bend the airplane. Even if it’s somehow your fault (tire pressure too low leading to tube spinning on rim and severing the valve stem, which you can avoid by checking tire pressure and visually inspecting the valve stem to see if it’s being bent over by the rim already), I say good job, pilot!
 
Probably nothing you did. I had a similar situation caused by this:
 

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So I've flown most of my life and didn't have a flat on a plane until recently. I was taxiing out in my friends 182 and the nosewheel tire went flat. I ordered a tube and changed it out, no worries. Then, I flew about two hours from home, spent the night, and came back to find the left main was flat. Both tubes had holes in the sidewalls.

I started thinking about it and I was pretty sure my friend had changed the tires and tubes about a year before.

Then I started paying attention to reviews when I was ordering tubes. Aero Classic Leakguard

A few examples... there are many more.

Had replaced nose tire and tube on our 182 and used a leakguard tube. Got a flat away from our home airport, pinhole in sidewall. Replaced it Oct of 18 with a new leakguard tube. 2-7-20 got another flat away from home airport and you guessed it, a pinhole leak with more looking like they were not far behind. Tire is good and tire talc was used both times. Looking at buying another brand tube and trying it out. Jason H

I have installed 2 of these tubes on the nose wheel of my Piper Warrior and both have developed pin holes on the side wall with no apparent puncture through the tire. The first only made it 30 days. The second made for 3 months. But had 2 large holes and was cracking along the same lines all on the middle of the side wall. Would not recommend. Steve K

I have installed a 3 of these tubes on my RV6 over the past 3 years. Every one of them has failed with a pinhole leak in the sidewall with no damage or penetration to the tires. I wont buy any more. Jimmy K

I have used these for years, on my personal aircraft, my company aircraft and my clients aircraft. In the last three years I have had 6 failures in 6.00x6 LeakGuards due to either pin holes in the sidewalls or failed seams. The manufacturing process has changed and the quality control is not there, I will not buy another one or recommend them to customers. Aircraft Spruce Customer Service has not been particularly helpful in replacing the defective tubes or resolving the issues with them. Jeff H

I only had my old one for less than fifteen hours when it developed a pin hole leak. The material appears to have broken down. Deborah A​
 
Hoping Ravioli finishes the story.

I have a cheap dolly I bought at Harbor Freight in case something like this happens at my home drome. We have few mechanics, and the last flat that a transient got I heard cost the guy $300 just for getting him off the runway:confused::eek:

My mechanic (works mobile) fixed the flat with a new tube and labor and said he was way under the "tow" charge
 
iamtheari said:
What I’m hearing: OP had a sudden tire blowout when landing in dark conditions and didn’t bend the airplane. Even if it’s somehow your fault (tire pressure too low leading to tube spinning on rim and severing the valve stem, which you can avoid by checking tire pressure and visually inspecting the valve stem to see if it’s being bent over by the rim already), I say good job, pilot!
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Thanks!
Something I’ve struggled with is how low my wheel pants sit to the ground.
I really can’t see much of the tire, and have no easy access to the valve stem.
Does anyone else with an RV have a good technique or solution?
 
Not an uncommon issue. I'd guess we have to assist 3-4 airplanes off the runway a year. Not sure I've ever seen a single one that could be attributed to a pilot or rough landing.
 
charheep said:
Story time?
Click to expand...

Many have read the interesting tale of my "incident" at KOSH.

Basically, I bounced my landing and nosed over. Ripped off my nose wheel and prop.
Passenger asked two questions: 1) did that just happen? and 2) are we still going camping?
Plane got a lovely bunch of maintenance. Firewall forward was redone. Also re-did the panel "since the firewall was already off".

The Camarillo incident was the right main tire on a rented 172. Pretty much non-event.

The Fayetteville incident was the left main on my RV. Also a non-event.
 
Ravioli said:
Many have read the interesting tale of my "incident" at KOSH.

Basically, I bounced my landing and nosed over. Ripped off my nose wheel and prop.
Click to expand...

Was this in 2018?

I was up doing this photo shoot, when someone had an incident on 27, losing their nosewheel. Caused a lot of excitement when the Cub with no radio decided not to follow us in as briefed and landed on 27 anyway!
 
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Adam Weiss said:
Thanks!
Something I’ve struggled with is how low my wheel pants sit to the ground.
I really can’t see much of the tire, and have no easy access to the valve stem.
Does anyone else with an RV have a good technique or solution?
Click to expand...
There really is no way unless you want to run around with no pants. Just keep an eye on the inflation and check whenever you have them opened up or removed.
 
Adam Weiss said:
Thanks!
Something I’ve struggled with is how low my wheel pants sit to the ground.
I really can’t see much of the tire, and have no easy access to the valve stem.
Does anyone else with an RV have a good technique or solution?
Click to expand...
Experimental means you could install a hatch on the wheel pant if you wanted to. I don't plan to do that on mine. Partly because I went with tubeless tires, since 100% of my tire problems have been tube-related.

For what it's worth, on our J-3 Cub behaves best with relatively low pressure in the tires, but the hubcaps have to be removed to see the valve stems. I have removed them to air up a tire or check pressure and found that the valve stem was already bent over a bit. So far I've always caught it in time, but it would be easy to miss.
 
Ravioli said:
Call me when you've shut down arrivals to Osh :)

<-- he's done that

...
Click to expand...

Ravioli said:
Nope. I did mine on 36R (usually a taxiway) in 2016
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Yikes! Too many spectators.
The important question is...did you touch down on the correct color dot? That's really the only score that counts for an OSH arrival, non? :D

keen9 said:
There really is no way unless you want to run around with no pants...
Click to expand...

During these COVID times apparently running around with no pants is entirely acceptable. Only a clean shirt is needed for those Zoom calls. ;)
 
Adam Weiss said:
I really can’t see much of the tire, and have no easy access to the valve stem.
Does anyone else with an RV have a good technique or solution?
Click to expand...
I used one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017S3XKHQ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_CN4HFbSVPS569
On the RV-9a we had around 1 inch diameter removable plugs in the wheelpants. We left the valve stem cap off. I could put that inflator tool through the hole and measure pressure as well as add air easily.

For changing a tire in the field, I had a lightweight scissor jack from an auto. I would put a metal hoseclamp on the gear leg, and use the scissor jack on the gear leg / hoseclamp to raise the wheel.

RV JACK.jpg RV JACK2.jpg
 
That happened to my plane...just last week in fact, at a towered airport. Somewhere between take off and rollout, the right main went flat. Never had that happen before. It was surprisingly un-dramatic from a handling standpoint, other than the hard pull to the right, the funny noises, and and the odd angle it sat at. Once stopped, the plane wasn’t going anywhere, shutting down their 7500-ft by 150-ft runway and leaving only their 3000-ft x 75-ft runway (oriented about 90°) as the only landing option for other planes. The FBO came out with their platform tug right quick and carted the thing off. They replaced the tube and tire (tire was worn). They didn’t charge me for the tow/recovery, but the Condor tube/tire cost me about $400.
 

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MacFly said:
That happened to my plane...just last week in fact, at a towered airport. Somewhere between take off and rollout, the right main went flat. Never had that happen before. It was surprisingly un-dramatic from a handling standpoint, other than the hard pull to the right, the funny noises, and and the odd angle it sat at. Once stopped, the plane wasn’t going anywhere, shutting down their 7500-ft by 150-ft runway and leaving only their 3000-ft x 75-ft runway (oriented about 90°) as the only landing option for other planes. The FBO came out with their platform tug right quick and carted the thing off. They replaced the tube and tire (tire was worn). They didn’t charge me for the tow/recovery, but the Condor tube/tire cost me about $400.
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Dang! I thought them thar RV's were low maintenance jobs. Isn't that the 2nd breakdown in as many weeks?
 
Ac
FORANE said:
Dang! I thought them thar RV's were low maintenance jobs. Isn't that the 2nd breakdown in as many weeks?
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Actually, it’s the third if you take into account the hangar-flat that happened on the other tire a couple of days before I flew down there to pick it up. Both tires were the originals from 11 years ago when the plane was new (now I’m a little nervous about the nose wheel...). The other breakdown was the Lycoming engine-driven fuel pump that died on the ferry flight home (factory-new Lycoming with 400 hours since new), and don’t get me started on the the avionics, which was a rehab project all its own. Fortunately, my buddy/CFI/sensei did the labor for free, so it cost me nothing other than $1300 for the G5. As he said...“welcome to Aircraft Ownership...”. On the positive side. I got a great deal on this otherwise fantastic airplane and with about 30 hours in it over the last month or so, I really love it. It is a blast to fly.
 
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Well, since we're talking flat tires.
My brother and I bought a Rans S6S in Pocatello, ID two weeks ago. We flew his RV9A out there from Oklahoma City on Friday, did a little transition training Saturday morning, and started home.
We made 5 stops and 2 overnight stops on the way home. The last fuel stop for me in the S6 was 100 miles from home. When I landed at home, my brother was following me in his pickup to my hangar.
When I shut down, he walked up to the airplane and stepped on the left main tire. It was completely flat.
We took the wheel/tire apart, there was a rub hole in the sidewall, nothing at all in the tire. We put in a new tube and it's still standing tall.
 
steingar said:
I've always said I thought it a bad idea to do Touch and Gos in complex aircraft. I've always been scoffed at. The pilot is in charge of lowering the gear. If he doesn't it's on him, and not on anyone on the radio.
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Scoff
 
Yep, just happens sometime without explanation. It does provide a few seconds of entertainment while you try to figure out why the plane is headed for the grass.

EE1DE680-4EA4-4E53-BF13-967B7CADA0BB.jpeg 7DAA337E-8674-4CDD-9503-E5916C01710D.jpeg
 
Was #2 to land when the cessna ahead of me crashed. I had to divert to another field. Come to find out, that Cessna head of me was a client and I had to get his plane fixed.

Also had a 737 plow into the arrest system at the end of the runway, shutting it down for a day before we could get it out. The next day I went out to the EMAS for survey with the airport manager and they shut it down again while we were out there. Felt....powerful.
 
X3 Skier said:
What is needed is an aircraft run flat tire. Experimental=$200, Certified=$2000.

Cheers
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Cirrus went tubeless on all of their new pistons in 2018. Textron and Piper responded by refusing to acknowledge that GA innovation is necessary or worthwhile.
 
I blew a tire on 18L at Oshkosh once so that was a bit more public (I was trying to make the taxiway and braked a little too excessively). At least I got it off the runway and taxiway into the grass so we could do a quick tire change.

My first engine failure ended up with me stuck on the edge of the runway with the airport closed except one guy "declared an emergency" to land at the other end of the same runway (that created a more furor with the authorities than my landing).
 
I haven't managed to shut down an airport yet (still on my bucket list), but I did manage to clear a circuit (pattern) when I had an avionics failure IFR, went NORDO, and Ottawa Terminal called my home airport to warn them. They sent a lineman out with a portable radio, and he watched me coming in and made the position reports for me (as I found out later).

The problem in my case was just a failed avionics master switch, which took out tens of thousands of $$$ worth of fancy avionics. Sh*t happens — it's how you cope with it that matters. I'll echo the others in saying that you seem to have coped just fine.
 
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