The Ingenious Design of Airplane Tires- Jeremy Fielding 107

[@Jeremy_Fielding]

Technical correction: The Boeing 737-800 main wheels (the 4 rear wheels) are actually 44 inches making them just barely larger than the tractor trailer tire. Despite my research and having a second engineer fact check the video we both managed to miss this fact because the nose wheel diameter is 27" and mentioned in more places. The overall story is the same. The capacity of the airplane tire is many times greater than a truck... including the 27" nose wheel, but it was definitely worth mentioning that not ALL of the tires are 27". Unfortunately I can’t change the video now that it’s live. I also added this note to the description.

[@JM-ho3qn]

Mr. Fielding, another engaging, informative and well researched video. As a longtime subscriber, I find your videos to be some of the best on the topics they cover. Not only are they clear and concise, you deliver them in an interesting way. Keep up the great work!

[@henryostman5740]

the mains support most of the weight and the plane lands on the mains, nosewheel landings are bad, even in small planes. main idea is that with six tires on a '37 the two in front don't carry 33% of the weight, probably about 10% so the four mains carry 90% and they do all of the braking since there are no nosewheel brakes (I believe that the 727 had these on some models). You might also exhibit the cages used when tires are inflated (they sometimes explode) and I believe there are videos of this actually happening, truck tires also explode and they sometimes use a safety cage for inflation. The brakes have to demonstrate the ability to stop the plane from takeoff speed at full load within a given distance without using reverse thrust (situation, an aborted takeoff at the last instance (V1) due to engine failure), this would involve stopping 150,000 #s going 150 mph within less than half a mile. When this happens operationally, the plane will normally stop on the runway while the fire crew stands by making sure the tires don't catch fire and the plane will have to wait a substantial amount of time before trying to take off again and might require a technician to check the brakes and tires before doing so. Don't sweat your error in tire size, this was a very good article. Thank you.

[@Bobbywolf64]

Also, the fuesable plugs are in the wheels, not the tires as you say in the video, Minor nitpick I know. Great video regardless. On most if not all aircraft, there is very little weight on the nose wheels. This is a problem for many aircraft. In fact, certain aircraft with tail mounted engines have been known to tip backwards just from the weight of snow from a storm.

[@Mad.Man.Marine]

Love your videos man. Your a natural !!

[@Terkinstein]

@@henryostman5740 I work @ Miami International turning wrenches on pretty much all the big girls except the '77 and '87. we do tons of Airbus A319,20,21 I was on a team for a while travelling around the country doing A320 Gear swaps and of course we gotta remove the tires for that job. I always love the teamwork involved in UP-Jacking the craft. absolute focus is crucial, as I have witnessed a jack slip, oh boy, Nooooo BUENO

[@joereedmusic9853]

As a retired Aircraft Engineer and Instructor I just like say that was a very good lecture on the dynamics of aircraft tire systems vs automotive. Well done.

[@Terkinstein]

Hey joe, where are you from? I heard you sing your song "I bought the shoes". great song by the way, I hear your voice and I think FL.

[@nkronert]

Jeremy, you are a fantastic ambassador for the discipline of engineering! Your enthusiasm is a great motivator for kids and adults alike to get curious about what makes our modern way of living possible. I hope there are many parents who watch your videos together with their kids in order to get them inspired to solve the issues that this same modern way of living is causing right now. Keep up the good work!

[@swnorcraft7971]

Amen.

[@trex2092]

I am a Retired USCG Aircraft Mechanic / Flight Crewman. I worked the Tire Shop at one of my assignments and built up and balanced hundreds of jet and helicopter tires. Thank You Jeremy for diving into this very critical component of flight. BTW we flew on the same aircraft we worked on and if we broke down some where we just called "Home Plate" and they shipped / delivered via another aircraft to us the parts we needed to fix our aircraft. We performed ALL the repairs and Maintenance on our aircraft. There where no outside Repairman to call, we was them. Keep in mind the HC-130 can taxi over sand, like in sand dunes type sand with a lower tire pressure on the mains (100psi) and still have a takeoff weight of 165,000 lbs, think of an elephants foot vs. a goat's hoof.

[@SeanBZA]

Yes, but you also have a lot more wheel assemblies to allow that operation off of unimproved surfaces. I have seen pilots scrub every one of those wheel assemblies to replace level in a single landing, thankful I was not the one changing them. My next door shop was the wheel bay, he had his own nice little armoured room, far from everything breakable, where he would do the first fill of any wheel assembly. Concrete walls and floor, and armoured door, but frangible roof so the blast would go up. Just like the armourers had a similar room where they would fuse munitions, for the same reason. Armourers had the best door gargoyles though, recovered practise bombs that were mostly intact, though the 1in steel case had split open and become more or less flat.

[@AdonisNesser]

Hard to imagine the hours put into the engineering of every component of an airplane, and how mundane it's become to ride them

[@pheargoth]

It's all that engineering that's MADE the ride mundane, if you get my meaning. A mundane airplane ride is exactly what you want!

[@rodneyfox5566]

As someone who has worked in the industry most of the problems where solved "trial by fire" style and on some parts or systems were physically paid for with human life! ie test pilots. Check out the full final catches the wire😥

[@rodneyfox5566]

☝F4U auto correct

[@pufthemajicdragon]

Mundane? Speak for yourself :D I get excited like a little schoolgirl every time I fly - nose pressed to the window with goofy grin and making the passengers next to me uncomfortable with all my giddy chatter.

[@Elrog3]

@@rodneyfox5566 Trial by fire is the last resort. Its just bound to happen with machines this complicated. At least the aerospace industry does a good job of learning from it rather than letting things stay broken.

[@calebcourteau]

You have the most calm, relaxing presentation style. I’m an engineering student and really appreciate your efforts to educate us about the field.

[@tachtruth]

Couldn't have said it better, the unassuming personal approach resonates well to old pro's as well as young students.

[@AppliedScience]

I had no idea aircraft tires are electrically conductive. Really cool episode!

[@Jeremy_Fielding]

Thank you!

[@SeanBZA]

Lots of carbon black in the rubber, and till recently carbon loaded grease in the bearings, so they will not have arcing with the discharge. They have changed the grease formulas as well, so as to add in molybenum and other anti wear additives as well, to reduce the wear from the carbon on the bearing surfaces. The straight carbon loaded black grease is suprisingly abrasive, due to the carbon in it, but you do need a conductive grease that both will not build up, but also allow the bearings to spin freely at high speed, even with massive shock loading and temperature swings. Hard act to do, so there are a lot of specialty greases used by each manufacturer, all slightly different, and not always interchangeable

[@MikeHammer1]

My dad is a retired TWA mechanic. As a young teenager, he took me to work at JFK airport (sadly that is something no child will likely ever experience again). One of the things he showed me was the huge hydraulic jack used to change tires and brakes. I also sat in the FO's seat while he started the engines on a 727 and taxied it over to the terminal from the hanger.

[@Mike_Engel]

Love how you break things down... Love to see you and Justin work together again....

[@GunGryphon]

I'm impressed by the sheer quality of the explanations and the comprehensive coverage. A stellar teacher!

[@bmacdoug]

Love your passion and enthusiasm. You are indeed a great ambassador for engineering.

[@bumstudios8817]

Thank you for this video, I appreciate the time you put into this! Your videos should be shown in schools, educational but also get people to think in an entertaining way also! Thanks

[@steveskouson9620]

Destin from Smarter every Day. Mark Rober, from Sunnyvale. steve

[@RayMrRobert]

Love you Jeremy. You talk in hard cold facts that people can understand.

[@irvingestave6903]

You do such a great job without talking over people's head. So understandable for the lay person.

[@sjhall2009]

Got a big Smarter Every Day vibe from this video. You guys are awesome!

[@brandonmack111]

It's amazing how much thought and engineering goes into even the simplest-seeming parts of pretty much anything. Thanks for the video - it was very interesting!

[@Robert-xp4ii]

Fascinating man and adorable little man. I love intelligent people and this guy brings it every time. Love this channel and would proudly support him as a patron just as soon as I catch up from 3 years of being off work for medical crap. ❤️

[@johnschneider4160]

Wow! What enlightenment about something that we take for granted, or, simply, have no idea of what engineering goes into the process.

[@carlosanvito]

When I was in engineering school (a million years ago) our Dean hijacked one our our lectures and asked us a single question: "You've been in university for several years, can you tell me, what is an engineer?" After listening to our responses for an hour, he said "You told me what an engineer DOES, but not what an engineer IS." After a few minutes he answered his own question: "An engineer is someone who does something 'just right'." He then elaborated about how engineers always have to balance conflicting drivers to achieve an optimum balance. Not maximum, but optimum. He was right. That was one of the most important lessons that I learned and that I applied over a long career in heavy industry. Now, I'm enjoying a second career as an associate professor, and you can be certain that I tell my students that same story and repeatedly remind them that engineering is all about compromise and optimization. Thank you for your videos - they are well researched, well presented and entertaining as well.

[@Roq-stone]

I can't believe you haven't yet hit the 1M subscribers. You have well researched, accurate, and interesting contents. I was an aviation maintenance engineer for 15 years and you did hit all the points. I also admire your demonstrations and the length of the video.

[@JevonWright]

I love the idea of a series focusing on the incredible engineering of flight! Yes please!!

[@theReverend14]

As someone who never contemplated anything about aircraft tires... wow. I have a whole new appreciation! Thank you. This is an excellent video.

[@davidbenson8127]

Great video, and a great example of how small details can matter a lot under certain circumstances.

[@gerardmoran9560]

Great video! Great to see your son shares your enthusiasm. Heavy jets have higher speed ratings for their tires. The speed rating is marked on the tire. Strangely, all speeds for pilots and ATC are in knots (nautical miles per hour) but the tire speeds are marked in statute mph. Most of the 737s I've flown had 215 MPH tires while the heavier jets I've flown (767-332ER) had 235 mph tires. In the 767 at max weight you would normally liftoff close to V2, about 170 kts or (170X1.15= 195 mph) so there's a good margin in case you need to perform a partial or no flap landing with higher approach speeds. Finally, another benefit of higher tire pressure is hydroplaning. The types of hydroplaning are viscous, reverted rubber and dynamic. Dynamic hydroplaning occurs with water on the runway and it's 8.7 times the square root of the tire pressure for speed in knots. A 200 PSI tire will hydroplane at about 123 knots. For statute mph a good estimate is 9 times the square root of the tire pressure so a 38PSI tire will hydroplane at about 55mph. Cheers

[@sidharthbatchu6128]

By the end of each of your videos, I feel galvanized, thanks Jeremy

[@NH-jm9fq]

Such a great video. So well communicated and researched. You have a great gift for teaching in this short doco style. Fan from Australia

[@chance1986]

Never thought about this aspect of aircraft design before. Thanks for explaining all this. Great video.

[@mrarby9780]

I'm an aircraft mechanic of 4 years and didn't lnow the tires were conductive, learned something new , thanks Jeremy

[@Cartier_specialist]

Very fascinating subject. It would probably also be fascinating if you did a series on the engineering involved with top fuel dragsters and funny cars. The tires they use are pretty incredible as well.

[@nothingtoseehere4026]

I'm with ya Jeremy. I own a light twin and I'm still amazed at what the landing gear and tires can handle even on a small scale.

[@psquared5574]

One of the best examples of well written and edited videos. Real quality. Thank you sir 👏🏼

[@josephsookraj5582]

Happy little fella peering into the engine,Thanks for the nitrogen explanation

[@donny_bahama]

One of the absolute coolest videos I’ve ever seen! I’d never given this any thought whatsoever and now… mind blown!!! Thank you, Jeremy, for bringing us the amazing kind of content that no one else could!

[@nathanielhart2846]

Your curiosity, capacity to learn, and earned brilliance is truly amazing. Great stuff, sir. Thanks for expanding others’ knowledge, such as my own. P.s. I had to edit, to include your ability to simply convey complexity. Good stuff.

[@BigMikeECV]

Fascinating topic! I learned a lot from this video. One thing that comes to mind about tire size is rotational inertia. It takes less energy to get a small tire spinning than a large one. That suggests it takes less friction on landing to get the tire spinning.

[@ralphmadi5784]

Jeremy is always a pleasure seeing you on KZbin teaching brother & explaining how invention are put together may God continue to bless you and the family.. all the best brother 🙂 👍🏿..

[@billwalck1324]

I had a piece of equipment one time that had airplane tires on it. They were 32 ply, and the sidewalls were over 2" thick. They were also rated at 200 miles per hour.

[@jepomer]

Excellent explanations that are simple enough for an average person, yet detailed enough for the technical type. This is the first of your videos that I have watched. I look forward to seeing more of your videos, now that I subscribed.

[@mythosallen32]

As a bombardier A/C mech. I appreciate your video. Very well explained.

[@mrsgbee]

I always wondered about those little tyres and how they take the rigours of landing planes. Very interesting, thank you, for the answers and engaging way you relay them.

[@Guardian_Arias]

the irony is that those tires can't handle the high speeds cars are capable off. About 170 mph they can start to rip apart. most commercial and military acft land around 120 to 140 mph so there isn't a need to increase the cost to cover much higher speeds than that.

[@brianbanks3044]

great...I have 5 plane rides in the next 4 months and I will be thinking about tires....actually, this was very interesting...as a mechanic, I always like to know how and why something works and you make it easy for everyone...thanks

[@ThomasLowFlyer]

Nicely done Sir! Thorough, accurate, yet accessible explanations. Relevant video. As an engineer with nearly 40 years of experience, and a lifelong aviation enthusiast, I commend your efforts.

[@SpyCactus]

I love the way your mind works. Thanks so much for sharing

[@jeffayoe7468]

This video is so carefully made. I love it!

[@AnotherPointOfView944]

Thankyou Jeremy. I wait for your content everyday.

[@josephdestaubin7426]

Its the landing that gets me. It requires amazing coordination had a great deal of skill to boot. It's the systems engineering that I see in the landing.

[@PowerkickBoxers]

brilliant man, great research and presentation. If you were a teacher at any level, you'd be everyone's favorite life changing teacher!

[@greensleeves8095]

I love your enthusiasm.

[@dantower8268]

Yes! I love that moment at takeoff when you lift off the ground

[@michaeldautry]

A&P mechanic here saying this video is legit. Just subscribed, great video and best of luck. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@pellechi1]

Bravo … thought this was going to be a boring waste of time … I would have denied myself another unique opportunity to be further educated by the ‘man’ … awesome learning experience, thanks …

[@kkall0602]

You sir have an incredible ability to explain very technically advanced subjects! Thanks for another great video!!!

[@sreginkc]

Another interesting design of airliners is the windshield. Very different from your car because of safety and purpose. Pressurization and temperature differences make them amazing. Thanks for your informative videos.

[@petermayiii1112]

Jeremy, thank you so much for such a wonderful job explaining all that info. Being a airman in the Navy and a private pilot your info was very well presented.

[@CollinWillson]

Jeremy, I work at Michelin as a maintenance technician. One of our machines makes Avion Tires, there are so many difference between Road and Avion Tires, just the wire alone goes from braided wire to solid wire. And instead of 2-3 packages of it on each side, you can have 6-8. They have to handle the force of a earth mover but go the speed of a race car. Great video!

[@pufthemajicdragon]

If you want to do a series on airplanes, I REALLY hope you connect with Captain Joe. I love his channel and he does some really cool videos on airplane engineering as well. There is a lot of overlap and it'd be so great to see you two getting airplane nerdy together on screen

[@hubrigant]

I think a video about the battery fires in the early 787 flights. In addition to the engineering challenges you mentioned, the 787 added in complexities in the design and manufacturing processes. I've been fascinated by this, and other lithium battery failures ever since we studied the 787 fires in college.

[@scottjones462]

Jeremy, another excellent discussion One point I would make is the distribution of the weight on the mains vs the nose is significant. In the A/C I work on the BOW is around 50,000lbs the mains carry about 23-24 k lbs and the nose about 4-5k lbs when on the scales for weight and balance calculations. Nose tires about 120 psi and mains 200 psi we only use dry nitrogen to service. I love your passion keep up the good work

[@Jeremy_Fielding]

Agreed. There are other details like this I left out on purpose. For example tires that don't have brakes aren't "required" (according to the 1990's report I show in the video) to use nitrogen but I felt like I reached a point where too much detail made it less interesting and harder to follow.

[@scottjones462]

@@Jeremy_Fielding thanks Jeremy you do a great job I’ll stay out of your editing room!!

[@Jeremy_Fielding]

@@scottjones462 I love nerdy details LOL

[@AlanShirtsink]

Love listening to your explanation of things

[@hgbugalou]

Oh man, aviation and engineering. I love it.

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

Good video! I'm more educated on tires than most people due to my passion of land speed racing but there is something about them that has always interested me. We wear out millions of tires on our roads every day but where does that rubber content end up & why don't we see it accumulating?

[@opietwoep1247]

You are the best science channel out there.

[@mtkoslowski]

Wonderfully presented. Thank you.

[@Zippo_1234]

Interesting video. Your explanations are excellent, very accessible for a wide audience.

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

I learned a lot from this video. I have spent many years working on and around military and commercial aircraft, but always on their electronic systems. Never had an occasion to learn about tthe tires other than the very basics - that they are filled with dry nitrogen, and you have to move the chocks a few inches away from the wheels before fuelling or loading. Thank you for increasing my knowledge base.

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

What another greatly research video! Thanks Jeremy for all your hard work and a great subject to make a video about!

[@supergarbonzo4843]

I'm looking forward to following Along on this one I love this channel thank you Jeremy my best to you and yours God bless

[@digitaldazzle5836]

This was really awesome! This is exactly why I love KZbin

[@eugenetswong]

Thank you for telling us about the tires.

[@mounbakko5871]

… right from the start seeing you the first time you seemed like a very knowledgeable guy with very informative, educational and inspiring content… you prove it.

[@bevo335]

Outstanding presentation. Another cool feature on some nose wheel tires is a lip on the sidewalls to divert water and slush away from the aircraft. I've seen this on some small to mid-sized jets.

[@BK-qp8zp]

I don't know why your video ended up in my feed, but I absolutely enjoyed it.

[@mikenew5380]

New favorite engineering channel!

[@DavidKutzler]

You should consider a collaboration with Grady from the Practical Engineering channel. He's more of the civil engineering side of the profession, but it might be interesting to talk about how the two engineering disciplines interact.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

It made me sleepy reading your comment ; ) because Jeremy connects with a smarter, more intense crowd like Destin in his collabs. But I'm sure you've seen the baseball cannon.

[@HH60gPaveHawk]

I think this would be a really good collab. Most of the reason they these tires can be engineered the way they do is the enormous engineering that goes into airfield pavements. I do airfield engineering work for a living, and even if you could get the same tire onto a semi ignoring the changes in how the tire is used, the road would just disintegrate below the truck. Military airfields are routinely 16” of the highest strength concrete available. I think a practical engineering collab on that side would be so cool.

[@HH60gPaveHawk]

I think this would be a really good collab. Most of the reason they these tires can be engineered the way they do is the enormous engineering that goes into airfield pavements. I do airfield engineering work for a living, and even if you could get the same tire onto a semi ignoring the changes in how the tire is used, the road would just disintegrate below the truck. Military airfields are routinely 16” of the highest strength concrete available. I think a practical engineering collab on that side would be so cool.

[@paulfaulkner6299]

I enjoyed your film, Jeremy. Thank you for making it.

[@bernonic]

just want to commend you on your willingness to work hard to convey ideas - I didn't know that I cared about airplane tires until now - cheers

[@Crookqt]

My favourite youtuber explaining my favourite topic Aerodynamics and Airplanes. Man I love you to death!

[@rickblackwell6435]

As a lifelong aviation enthusiast, I had no idea .... great info.

[@dannynone2784]

Great video. You are a wonderful teacher!

[@davidswanson5669]

You are a great educator, and I’m both inspired and jealous of your many talents.

[@Jeremy_Fielding]

That is very kind thank you!

[@dantower8268]

Most interesting video about something I see all the time but have never thought about that I've seen in a long time!

[@Cdrsan]

I work on the ramp with Airbus A320's and A319's. The tires are much smaller than I first expected, and the gear assembly is massive! Reverse thrust help a lot with braking, allowing tires to be even smaller. The conductivity also reduces static charge to reduce chances of fire when fueling, and there are also big fans integrated into the hub assembly of the tire to help expel heat! On a cold day it's nice to stand next to it :)

[@bobjohnson8970]

Wow! Great information on a subject I never gave thought to. Thank you for a great presentation.

[@Deanriley]

Really enjoyed learning about airplane tires. Flying will never be the same.

[@blackdog9622]

Great content, and well presented. Ty for your willingness to share your skills and gifts.

[@Friedbrain11]

I'm with you on the takeoff...love the angle and the gentle push against me as the aircraft leaves the ground. I never saw a tire that ran under 100psi when I was OTR driver.

[@jakem7838]

Great video! I really appreciate how much research you made prior to it's creation. I'm in my 27th year of aircraft maintenance. Currently a line maintenance technician for the largest air cargo airline. Aircraft tires are extremely heavy. A main tire for a DC-10 and MD-11, 54 inches in diameter, weighs about 600 lbs with an extremely light magnesium wheel. They are rated for 235 mph. The tread profile of the tire is over an inch thick. The tires get beat all to hell depending on the type of runway they operate from. It is truly amazing how strong aircraft tires are.

[@m.sawmill3136]

Proud of your channel!! You did well..

[@michaelogden5958]

One thing I've always wondered is how large aircraft during landing can flip their vertical stabilizers back and forth so quickly. In some cases, there must be incredible counterforces, and a worm drive doesn't seem to be (to me) reactive/quick enough to do the job, although obviously it does. Nice video!

[@tantradossantos4501]

I really appreciate your passion for science and engineering. This was a dope and interesting video. 💙

[@SimonHerrgard]

Thanks for a great video. I work as a aircraft mechanic on the 737 and really appreciate the video. Almost spot on.

[@asmerawi3680]

You are very passionate and gifted … kept up :)

[@epleace]

Great stuff. Thanks for the hard work going into these videos.

[@almacdonald2506]

Good video, thanks. A side benefit to higher tire pressures is the increased speed before it hydroplanes. And while the tires must support the weight of the airplane, we have all been on landings that just slammed into the runway, so temporary higher loading. If there is a stiff crosswind the tire takes large side loading. Like you said, incredible tire design.

[@ryandubyah2345]

I’ve seen a couple of your videos now and thank you for them, sir! Especially this one interested me as I just crave knowledge in general. I’ve always kept that childhood wonder and amazement with large machines and the sheer miracle of flight, but never put much real thought toward the tires having to endure what they do. Thanks again Jeremy, sub well earned!

[@sacrificialrubber779]

The channel I didn’t know existed but I have to watch now!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@sciencetoymaker]

Fantastically well done; thumbs up!

[@1geisterfahrer]

I work for an automotive plastics manufacturer in the testing lab. We make nothing so critical as an airplane tire, but the level of scrutiny applied to mundane parts such as trim pieces is incredible. I cannot imagine the testing required for aircraft parts.

[@Farm_fab]

Jeremy, thanks for this information. Just two adds to what you said. One, the grooves are called sipes. There's a good bunch of information on that. Second, used commercial aircraft tires can be used on various agricultural applications. One that comes to mind is manure spreaders. I have used commuter aircraft tires on carts, and they work well with go-kart rims. The two most common sizes I use are 5" and 6". As you mentioned, split wheels are required for these as well, for one fundamental reason. Instead of steel cords in the bead, these have a steel ring that keeps it's shape under varying circumstances. The tires are definitely overrated for my applications, but when they are deemed not flight worthy, there are further uses beyond that.

[@OwenEDell]

Wow. I had no idea! What a great video. Thanks so much!