Foxcotte - Cessna is aware of the problem.....
Interesting you mentioned the left main burst tire problem on the Caravan - Cessna also have an on-going investigation into this phenomena......so far there seems to be a correlation between the four turning forces acting on an aircraft - (1) torque reaction of the engine and propeller, (2) the propeller's gyroscopic effect, (3) the corkscrewing effect of the propeller slipstream, and (4) the asymmetrical loading of the propeller AND the manner in which power is reduced in the flare. Strangely enough burst tires occur just as often on long asphalt runways as they do on bush/gravel runways and the theory is that pilots tend perform flatter approaches with prolonged flares and “Chop” the power on long runways resulting in an rapid decrease of these four LEFT turning tendencies i.e. the aircraft turns right requiring a rapid LEFT rudder input to maintain the centerline. In doing so it is ASSUMED that either partial brake may be applied OR a momentary side load applied to the tire resulting in failure. The recommended NORMAL procedure for any aircraft especially single engine ones that require high power settings in the landing configuration is to slowly bring the power lever to idle during the flare. Some comments/suggestions from current Van drivers welcome as it has been more than a decade since I flew the plane.