TP
The a/c in #8 was in fact a B, a Bristol Britannia.
Different makers have had their own ideas - at the time.
Another A, Austers, had separate heel brakes on Autocrats, as taught by their Chief Test Pilot in 1948.
The S/F/O's feet in # 8 were flat on the floor. They were avaiiable if needed, but could have only pushed - not pulled, to reduce brake pressure had that been required.
Watching the brake pressure gauges on Touch Down might be an unusual scan. I suspect that fairly little brake pressure might have been sufficient to do the damage to the tyres on touch down.
IIRC trials had attempted to see the effect of "spinning up" the wheels to improve tyre wear. But this required more spin speed control/ touch down speed than then possible.
LT
Last edited by Linktrained; 2nd Jul 2015 at 15:28.
Reason: bits