Prespin Question
 

I know there are several patents active for introducing prespin to landing gear prior to touchdown to save tyre wear and damage which is especially prevalent on larger aircraft.

Is anyone aware of any aircraft, commercial or military that has adopted any of these patents, and if so what impact has it had (forgive the pun) ?

I used to find that a quick, light bounce or two before the final arrival achieved this quite satisfactorily. This technique has the merit of being applicable to a large variety of aircraft types without expensive mods.

Is the additional effort, cost and most of all weight involved really worthy of saving a little tyre tread?


This may explain why they are not commonplace but I am happy to be convinced otherwise.

ratty1

I think you'll find that is called sarcasm. :hmm:

ratty1

Thanks for clearing that up. :rolleyes:

Correct me if I'm wrong MostlyHarmless but your post did have a slght hint of sarcasm about it...am I right? Or are you landings simply crap?! ;)

TF

Just land vertically- no problems! Although some have still burst tyres that way- you know who you are...:ok:

SMT

And bounced as a result of crashing during landing. ;)

There I was, wondering why this was on the Mil Forum and not the Eng and Tech Forum when, lo and behold, it has opened up a whole rich vein of humour.

We should really ask the Cabinet Office this question. After all, spinning is their speciality.

But don't even think of approaching the England cricket team! :\

I'm going to patent my idea...

...spin them backwards and if you can get them going fast enough, you won't need any of that horribly noisy reverse thrust :ok:

On no, totally serious. In fact, one trip I dispensed with that troublesome landing bit entirely, saving countless millimeters of tyre wear. Seem to recall they had a bit of an issue locating the tyres afterwards, though.
And yes, that was sarcasm / humour; but I find it hard to differentiate myself sometimes...

i thought (and forgive my blunty ingnorance) a good landing was any landing you can walk away from!

ratty1
Try highlighting all of the post by MostlyHarmless and you'll see the following...
;)

On the old large aircraft (eg Hastings) they used to put scoop dimples in the tread which had a limited success in running the wheels up before landing. Bit of a bu$$er if the fitter put them on the wrong way round though.

ACW

Fit big DC motors in the wheel hubs, so we could dispense with tugs, and use them as Eddy current brakes during the slowing down bit!

Clever post MostlyHarmless! :D