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Old 9th Sep 2010, 05:03
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archae86
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Albuquerque USA
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SR-71 tires had a hard life

The Concorde tyres were obviously under enormous stress. The only other Aircraft that I can think off whose Tyres have such a hard life (on landing only of course!) are those installed on the Space Shuttle.
Not sure how the landing and takeoff speeds compare, but the SR-71 tires had the additional disadvantage of a prolonged heat soak to far higher temperature than any large Concorde component, I think. Sources say the tires were good for 15 cycles, other say 6, and attribute two early hull losses (64-17950 and 64-17954 in 1967 and 1969) to tire failures progressing to magnesium wheel fires propagating into the rest of the airframe.

Last edited by archae86; 9th Sep 2010 at 12:41. Reason: fix "the the" typo
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