They don't blow out "all the time," that's why you've never experienced a landing with a blow out. Any way this is a FAQ and has been investigated before: > Wh

They don't blow out "all the time," that's why you've never experienced a landing with a blow out. Any way this is a FAQ and has been investigated before: > While I was in college at the University of Cincinnati, I was watching television and saw a shot of an aircraft landing. There was the normal boil of tire smoke at touchdown. I had the same thought as your reader. Thinking that I had a great invention on my hands, I did some research in the library. I found some U.S. Government (Air Force or Navy) documents that addressed this issue. They were complete with photographs of a very elaborate test sled designed to accelerate a test tire over various surfaces and measure the effects of load and spinup time. Tests were done also of pre-spinning the tires. Much to my surprise, tire spinup was not a significant factor in tire wear. > Flight crews did not like having almost 1000 lb. of spinning mass ~15 ft below the center of gravity. The special tires made the aircraft very hard to turn, especially at low airspeeds associated with the approach and landing phase. The crews wanted gyroscopes in the cockpit, not under the wings. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. http://archives.sensorsmag.com/articles/0300/14/index.htm http://archives.sensorsmag.com/articles/0300/14/index.htm