[-]

Impressive-Tip-903@reddit

So glad the video continues until the middle wheel spins...

[-]

Dear_Smoke6964@reddit

I got impatient and came to the comments to see why it wasn't spinning.

[-]

kipperfish@reddit

I think it's essentially suspension (Or rather flex in the design of either the tyres themselves or what they wheels are mounted to)

[-]

ic33@reddit

or what they wheels are mounted to)

Yup. This bending against anticipated load is called "preload" and makes assemblies significantly stronger.

One place you see this is on aluminum flat beds on semi trailers, where there's a lot of camber for preload.

https://imgur.com/a/RwDEK9u

(Steel trailers generally have preload, too, but since they are generally designed to flex less it's less blatant).

[-]

Yes, if it weren't bowed (either the frame is shaped that with flex taken into account or suspension components are forcing it to happen) - in other words if it were just perfectly straight, then the flex that's going to happen anyways would put more weight on the middle wheel while under full load. Shape optimized for equal force on wheel sets under full load, not equal height while unloaded.

[-]

JaaacckONeill@reddit

Yeah, it's probably design, but also the center tire could be more worn down

[-]

districtdave@reddit

Me too

[-]

TheRealJojenReed@reddit

This entire video is 27 seconds long. You got impatient? Oof

[-]

AfraidArachnid1976@reddit

This post summarizes the problem with modern day homo sapiens

[-]

waytosoon@reddit

Couldn't agree more, but I will say, at least the curiosity is still there. Curiosity seems to be dying just as fast. Except the gag kind apparently

[-]

Dedicated-Daddy@reddit

Sameee

[-]

ClaymoreJohnson@reddit

Do you think the friction coefficient of a stationary wheel is beneficial enough to slowing an aircraft verse having the wheel spun up so the tires don’t need to be replaced as frequently?

Random question for anyone with knowledge.

[-]

classyhornythrowaway@reddit

fuel cost of lugging around extra weight of an electric motor, control electronics, associated wiring, etc over so many take offs and landings vastly outweighs (lol) any potential tire savings. Airlines' holy grail is doing away with landing gear altogether.

[-]

hacourt@reddit

This. Rubber is cheaper including the increased replacement schedule.

[-]

Danamaganza2@reddit

They could spin them aerodynamically, but those wheel aren’t light. The gyroscopic effects would probably affect the manoeuvrability of an aircraft.

[-]

Te_Luftwaffle@reddit

They aughta talk to war thunder players about landing with no gear

[-]

classyhornythrowaway@reddit

I thought the main purpose of war thunder is leaking classified operation manuals to establish credibility to your ~~KGB~~ ~~FSB~~ Discord buddies

[-]

Te_Luftwaffle@reddit

That too

[-]

HelloKamesan@reddit

It's necessary for the tires to spin during braking rather than stay stationary not only for tire wear but because friction forces actually go down for stationary (locked) wheels.

[-]

OptiGuy4u@reddit

So you're saying locking them up and sliding the plane to a stop would be a bad plan? 🤯

/s

[-]

KnifeKnut@reddit

You do not know the can of worms you have opened.

[-]

bamaham93@reddit

They tried it, but the weight and fuel penalty was more expensive in the big picture.

[-]

LearningDumbThings@reddit

Rubber is dirt cheap compared to anything else certified for aviation.

[-]

SalesAndMarketing202@reddit

I'm not sure what exactly you're asking. You're suggesting the tires should be spun before they make contact with the ground?

[-]

ClaymoreJohnson@reddit

I’m saying there’s a significant amount of tire being shed as the wheel comes into contact with the ground. My thought was “does the friction slow the plain down at all or is the cost of replacing a tire negligible..

Completely pointless observation, it was a hungover thought I had before taking an afternoon nap.

[-]

SalesAndMarketing202@reddit

No I don't think the friction of the tires making on contact has a significant effect on slowing the plane down. But the hardware require to make the wheels spin at speed so they don't smoke whenaking contact with the ground would add significant weight and drag. Tires are probably much cheaper than the install maintenance and fuel costs of that specialized hardware. Aircraft parts are extremely expensive, rubber tires are expensive but they are recapped numerous times to keep costs down on them.

[-]

By-C@reddit

All my tires are always pre-spun. It’s how I know they can turn.

[-]

fk067@reddit

Everyone was waiting for it.

[-]

goro-n@reddit

Waiting for the other tire to drop

[-]

marenicolor@reddit

Wake up baby the middle tire just dropped

[-]

LeveragedPittsburgh@reddit

When the beat drops

[-]

SirAchmed@reddit

For a moment I thought the middle one was for redundancy

[-]

pleth0ra@reddit

Classic middle child syndrome

[-]

Aggravating-Roof-666@reddit

As a middle child, this comment resonates.

[-]

NoSpinach1082@reddit

🤣🤣🤣

[-]

AdultContemporaneous@reddit

r/LandingGearPorn

[-]

NoNamesLeftStill@reddit

r/subsifellfor

[-]

JC1199154@reddit

I'm just this ain't r/gifsthatendtoosoon at all

[-]

spearmint_flyer@reddit

wearethemiddlewheel

[-]

konrradozuse@reddit

About to go full autistic

[-]

theOthman@reddit

My twin bro 😎

[-]

lord-turnip@reddit

So I guess it's the 330 that lands with the gear pointing down.

[-]

Weiner-Schnitze@reddit

What does the hand say to the face?

[-]

_3clips3_@reddit

Hella Oakey dokey

[-]

tylerscott5@reddit

I’m not kidding I’ve wondered what this looks like in slow mo for years. I think about it maybe once every 3 months

[-]

mrtucey@reddit

Same. I deal with 777 landing gear a lot and always wondered what how it moved on landing.

[-]

mNelt@reddit

Why did the middle one start spinning later? Three identical circles aligned on the same line, but one of them started rotating later. My math ain't mathing

[-]

mrtucey@reddit

The beam the axles are attached to has a slight upward bow in the center to better handle the weight on the ground. If the beam was staight when full the center wheels would have more weight on them and the forward and aft less. Having the beam bent like this allows it to staighten out and equally distribute the load to all 3 axles when fully loaded

Same thing with empty flatbed semi trailers you see on the highway. When fully loaded those same trailers are flat.

[-]

Richuntilprovenpoor@reddit

As a flight attendant I fly the 777 at least once a month but never thought the middle main gear wheels start turning last… intriguing!

[-]

Educational_Poet_577@reddit

They don’t normally. The middle tire just has more tire wear and thus it was the last tire to make contact with the ground

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Frederf220@reddit

I assumed the bogey is curved not under load and it took the full weight of the airplane to deform it into contact.

[-]

OverthinkingAnything@reddit

This is the right answer.

[-]

babyformulaandham@reddit

The middle one on the other side starts turning as soon as they touch the ground, how does that work?

[-]

Joscosticks@reddit

Guessing the landing wasn’t perfectly level, more pressure on the right before the left.

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Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

Any landing you walk away from.

[-]

Belfastscum@reddit

Shocker

[-]

Moondoobious@reddit

🖖👉🍑

[-]

Belfastscum@reddit

Why you being down voted brother?! Have one for me

[-]

Moondoobious@reddit

Reddit hates emojis sometimes. But I couldn’t silence the 16yo in me this time.

[-]

babyformulaandham@reddit

Thank you

[-]

OverthinkingAnything@reddit

Thats my assumption too. Looking at the position of the shocks over time seems to confirm this. Right side comes down more quickly than the left.

[-]

flynryan692@reddit

The right mains touch down first, and you can see that right strut compress more than the left strut so I can only assume more weight was on that side of the aircraft.

[-]

ThatMowmentWhen@reddit

Are you saying my stepmom was on that flight?

[-]

babyformulaandham@reddit

Thank you

[-]

sbjustin@reddit

Crosswind landing

[-]

BigBlueMountainStar@reddit

I mean, the middle tyre will have more wear, as it skids more before spinning up, but it’s not the reason why is spins later, as you and the other comment says.

[-]

newtestleper79@reddit

Damn, I read that and instantly believed it. I should have waited for someone else to guess before switching my belief.

[-]

ClosetLadyGhost@reddit

That's seems like a lot of tire wear

[-]

g3nerallycurious@reddit

Just like those semi truck flatbed trailers

[-]

DeathCabForYeezus@reddit

This is absolutely incorrect.

The centre axle is located slightly higher than the forward and aft axle.

Why?

When the weight is on the gear you want the weight to be equally distributed through all three axles. The problem is the strut is above the centre axle which would load that axle far more than any other axle. That kinda defeats the purpose of having three axles.

To get things to evenly distribute, the centre axle on the 777 gear is located slightly higher off the ground than the other two. That means the front and rear axles load up, the beam connecting them all flexes, and then the centre axle touches. That helps get all wheels loaded up equally.

If you ever get a fresh gear for a gear change (with fresh tires too) that's sitting on flat ground, you can spin the middle wheels because the gear is unloaded and really isn't flexing much.

[-]

mynadidas5@reddit

(I had to read this three times to get it. Now that I get it, great explanation!)

[-]

Duder211@reddit

Ok cool, exactly what I thought when I first saw this clip.

[-]

Impressive-Yak-7449@reddit

This Is 100% the correct answer! I had to rob a tire from a new 777 truck. Rather than jacking the strut, we were able to simply remove the center wheel as it was 3 inches off the ground

[-]

Jango214@reddit

Man came with receipts!

[-]

Elgard18@reddit

r/confidentlyincorrect

[-]

ER_Support_Plant17@reddit

So the mechanics check the wear with a penny? If part of Abe’s head is missing you need new tires?

[-]

uclapilot@reddit

The plane landed slightly leaning to the right side. You can see the right landing compressing more/before the left landing gear. So the wheels on the right side of the left boogie will also spin first. That is why you see the left boogie come down without seeing the aft left wheel spinning , it’s the aft right wheel that makes contact first

[-]

Impressive-Yak-7449@reddit

Incorrect. The 777 truck is arched, much like a flat bed tractor trailer with no load. The middle tire literally sits about 3 inches higher than the forward and aft. IRS but until the weight Of the aircraft comes down that IIT makes contact

[-]

PuzzleheadedImpact19@reddit

Silly me, I thought it was to act as a spare in event of a blowout LOL

[-]

Icy_Consideration409@reddit

Yep. My thought too!

[-]

Final-Carpenter-1591@reddit

That's not completely incorrect. That, is one of the functions

[-]

Final-Carpenter-1591@reddit

Not true. I'm by no means an expert on 777.but I have worked on them some. The bogey is slightly cantilever. As pretty much anything is that is a flat plane when loaded. Just look at an empty semi truck flat bed. Same idea.

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tumamaesmuycaliente@reddit

And why would that tire have more wear?

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Richuntilprovenpoor@reddit

Ohh interesting, is it because most of the haul load rests on the middle wheel or…?

[-]

TrippinNL@reddit

No, wheels get replaced on condition. Over the lifespan of a tire, like several months, it loses about 3 to 5 cm of rubber. So if the forward and aft tire have a thicker profile, because they aren't as used, they need to be squized by the airplane weight before the middle tire will make contact with the tarmac

[-]

RowlData@reddit

Yeah note that the center wheel on the other side begins rotating almost immediately.

[-]

Huugboy@reddit

Or they got used more, so they've already been replaced, whereas the middle one hasn't.

[-]

grain_farmer@reddit

This is the correct answer. Stigshift or whatever his name actually commented this when this was originally on Instagram

[-]

born_on_my_cakeday@reddit

You’re a flight attendant and they let you fly the plane? That’s awesome!!

[-]

hogey74@reddit

I wouldn't have picked it. But seeing it now, it's cool how the hinge on the dolly does a lot of the initial shock absorption like one big trailing link and then progressive loading of tyres does more as the main struts compress. Reminds me of how some trucks have wheels that only touch the ground when heavily loaded. Like you said, intriguing!

[-]

jedensuscg@reddit

It doesn't necessarily, look at the right side, the middle wheel starts spinning almost immediately.

[-]

Porkyrogue@reddit

Not this again

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doofthemighty@reddit

That middle wheel just taking a little nap.

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cjhallx@reddit

The other wheels all laughed. Middle wheel thinks it doesn't have any work to do.

[-]

Squeebee007@reddit

No r/PraiseTheCameraMan yet?

[-]

AdministrativeTop813@reddit

777-200 to be more precise

[-]

random_everythinggg@reddit (OP)

777-200ER to be more precise 😁

[-]

PenitentHamster@reddit

Amusing how it looks like the talons stretching out as a harpy eagle grasps something to perch on.

[-]

Slight_Bed_2241@reddit

You’d probably be surprised to know how much of our machine world is based on the natural world. Engineers regularly took to nature for the best way to do things we’re not meant to. Evolution is the best real world test.

[-]

Stoney3K@reddit

One of the most beautiful examples is the old KLM ad which showed a swan spreading its wings, dropping its feet and striking the water... and then almost seamlessly cutting into a 747 landing on the runway.

[-]

miffet80@reddit

Haha I just looked it up, I never realized there were so many of them! Compilation video:

https://youtu.be/pxo15o4MSxY?si=kDb5G3GwR0UNU5yi

[-]

TopMetal6187@reddit

Known as biomimicry :)

[-]

No_Volume_9616@reddit

It's called animal mimicry. Man imitates nature for design because of it is superior.

[-]

TopMetal6187@reddit

Biomimicry!

[-]

gravy_train53@reddit

Facts, look a a side view of the B2 and a Peregrine Falcon. Similar shaped body.

[-]

mz_groups@reddit

The shapes are coincidentally similar in profile (not in any other view), but it's for rather different reasons. That beak and nose that people compare are shaped for radar cross section reduction in the B-2, and that's a concern that no peregrine falcon has.

[-]

abcpdo@reddit

…yet

[-]

basssteakman@reddit

Also the nasal cone of the peregrine falcon and the engine intake design on the A-12/SR-71

[-]

Slight_Bed_2241@reddit

Perfect example.

[-]

FZ_Milkshake@reddit

Yes, but not in this case.

[-]

Slight_Bed_2241@reddit

I think you replied to the wrong person?

[-]

djsnoopmike@reddit

A large part of aviation was inspired by birds.

[-]

bonvoyage_brotha@reddit

Middle wheel said hell no we won't go!

[-]

pprivate100@reddit

That’s me in the group projects

[-]

BigRLC@reddit

“I’m just happy to be here” -the middle wheel

[-]

DefendTheStar88x@reddit

Just thinking about the engineering that went into solely the landing gear is mind blowing.

[-]

ThePhukkening@reddit

Elegant

[-]

orrwm120@reddit

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!

[-]

hazcan@reddit

u/savevideo

[-]

SaveVideo@reddit

View link

[-]

ceeceecrown@reddit

Would it be better for the wheels if they were already spinning in motion before touching down? (Genuinely curious)

[-]

cji25@reddit

You forgot the NSFW tag, buddy

[-]

grahasbtye@reddit

Wouldn’t it make more sense to bring the wheel up to speed before landing so it doesn’t burn off one section of the wheel where it touches?

[-]

myriadnoob@reddit

Nonsense. Attaching electric motors just to spin the wheel to such a high RPM will only add deadweight, lots of maintenance problems, and failure points - having all of that just to avoid a negligible problem? That's a totally unnecessary.

And on some planes which already tried to implement that idea, the pilots actually lose the feel of touching down, which can badly affecting post-touchdown handling.

All in all, that's just a bad idea.

[-]

m149@reddit

Something I didn't know i wanted to see til now.

But now I know I wanna see a slow mo of 767 too.

[-]

DullMind2023@reddit

And C-5, it has 28 wheels total!

[-]

Pooch76@reddit

That’s so many wheels!

[-]

kilosoup@reddit

For all those rough field landings we don't do. God knows it doesn't help spreading out the footprint, we're still weight restricted for taxi/parking at most of the fields we fly into with parking spots that are supposed to be rated for C-5s.

[-]

Fliparto@reddit

I wonder if it would save money on tires, if there was a little propeller at the front of the landing gear, that when it spins from the airspeed, it would rotate the tires, matching the landing speed and not have to burn the tires up.

[-]

RedditAppSucksRIFftw@reddit

Middle wheel is like "but moooom I don't wanna go to school!"

[-]

jokimega@reddit

That's some seriously smooth engineering right there!

[-]

jokimega@reddit

That landing gear's smoother than my morning coffee run!

[-]

HardSleeper@reddit

Bono, my tyres are gone (after that lockup)

[-]

lordkabab@reddit

(continues to win race)

[-]

Odd_Musician_4690@reddit

Any advantage to have motors pre spin the wheels before touch down

[-]

Final-Carpenter-1591@reddit

Surprised this still comes up from time to time. It's an easy to Google answer.

But here's the basic answer. If it would actually save the airliners any money, you can bet it'd be installed already.

[-]

Faaak@reddit

Thanks!

[-]

Pavores@reddit

You're also going to get more drag from spinning tires and the vane system - gear already adds a lot, so this would lower performance on take off and landing go arounds - two critical times you really want it.

[-]

Final-Carpenter-1591@reddit

Yep. Not to mention the gyro effect. With motors at least you could spin them up at say 20' agl, so you'd only have that gyro effect for a few seconds. But with vanes. It's going to take alot of time to get any speed out of them, so you'd have thousands of pounds of rotating mass to deal with in the critical phases of flight. Just to save a bit of rubber.

[-]

DullMind2023@reddit

How much more per ticket are you willing to pay for hauling around wheel spinners-uppers?

[-]

unbanpabloenis@reddit

Why not something without moving parts that works with the airpspeed?

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praetor450@reddit

For now it is cheaper to replace tires more frequently than to have something that would spin up the tires before touchdown to extend their life a little more.

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DullMind2023@reddit

And if the wheel spinner-upper was broken they’d have to have a wheel upper-spinner backup. Or cancel the flight.

[-]

praetor450@reddit

Not necessarily, it might be done as an item that can be deferred as part of the minimum equipment list. However, that means time to do the deferral and maintenance costs to have the maintenance personnel carry it out, maybe more so if it happens at an outstation where they don’t have local presence.

[-]

ratpatty@reddit

still extra parts and weight, the fuel cost to haul that I imagine is more than it would save on rubber

[-]

Az1234er@reddit

Could just use open a latch and use the air speed targeted toward the wheel to make it spin, would not cost much weight or energy. Not sure there's really a significative gain having the wheel spin to even bother having any mechjanism even basic to maintain though

[-]

TampaPowers@reddit

Another large part of tire wear is driving on hot pavement, turning and just dealing with weight deforming the rubber as it rolls along. Tires aren't just changed when their tread is down. They also get changed for defects, cracks and just not holding pressure. You may extend the life of a tire for a few more flights, but in the grand scheme it's not worth that effort. Even using a passive system to windmill them up to speed you are adding weight, certification requirements, re-engineering wheel wells and something to get in the way of a tire change itself. Even airlines known for trying to ring every dollar that just ends up not being worth the effort.

The other big part of this is also wet runway conditions. Should water somehow pool on the runway then you want to "punch through" the surface tension and that's easier if you aren't moving. Think skipping a stone across a lake vs. letting it fall in.

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dman_21@reddit

Everytime you add a feature, you ask yourself how much value it’s bringing and at what cost.

[-]

PleaseJustCallMeDave@reddit

It would add a lot of complexity (and weight) to the gear. The increased fuel burn/reduction in capacity would not make up for the increased tire life.

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A3bilbaNEO@reddit

What if wind vanes were used instead?

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mck1117@reddit

That would add drag, which increases fuel burn and hurts performance.

[-]

Pavores@reddit

Even spinning up the tires to 180mph would add drag. Drag goes with the square of velocity, so while the bottom of the wheel would have less drag, the top of the wheel spinning against the air speed would quadruple versus a static wheel.

[-]

Pointless69Account@reddit

Also being so low to the ground, those vanes would easily get damaged and produce even more debris on the runway.

[-]

GSDer_RIP_Good_Girl@reddit

Not sure why you got downvoted for asking a perfectly reasonable question; that was going to be my question as well.

[-]

meuzobuga@reddit

Possible reason would be that this question is asked a lot.

[-]

Seventhchild7@reddit

I always thought jets should have, turbine rims to start the wheels spinning before they hit the ground.

[-]

Razor_Tachyon@reddit

Google gyroscope

[-]

BigRoundSquare@reddit

That middle wheel to the other two wheels

“Great job guys! You’re doing so good, what’s that you need my help too? Okay!”

[-]

jedensuscg@reddit

That middle wheel was like "fine, I guess I'll do something if it stops you bitching at me John."

[-]

Public_Enemy_No2@reddit

Wonder how big the rotors are?

[-]

SpicyPropofologist@reddit

NSFW

[-]

drunkonteemate@reddit

Patently wrong and so overly confident about it. Dunning-Kruger in full effect.

[-]

Creepy_Ad2486@reddit

After jet engines, I think landing gear is the most badass thing on a modern jetliner.

[-]

Retibro@reddit

They're pretty awesome. These particular great are the largest main landing gear on any plane iirc. And I've worked on them, as I used to build 777s for Boeing.

[-]

Lord-Scrambleton@reddit

That middle wheel is me in group projects.

[-]

ashishvp@reddit

I gotta see that on an A380 😳

[-]

Gerbil_Feralis@reddit

Why not have tiny motors get them spinning a bit before touchdown??

[-]

Shadowrend01@reddit

Adds more weight and complexity to the system for legible benefit, and once you touch down the rotation speed is going to suddenly change anyway, which has the potential to break the system

[-]

synthia331@reddit

The middle wheel was like my partner while doing my multi-engine rating...

[-]

zippy251@reddit

Also a good example of inertia

[-]

whiskeytown79@reddit

The camera work on this is incredible

[-]

uSeRnAmE_aReAdYtAkEn@reddit

How often do these tire have to be replaced? Obviously the forces on the tires are massive and I’m assuming the brief moment on contact before the tire starts to rotate (like a lockup in motor racing) would create big flat spots or wear on a particular spot of the tire. Could be wrong but would be interested to know if anyone has any insight.

[-]

RockyBass@reddit

They don't flat spot unless they get locked by brakes or something. They start rotating on contact before much weight is even applied to them so their wear on touchdown actually gets spread around the tire fairly well. If a tire were to touchdown at the exact same spot every landing I suppose you might start to see a flat spot form.

[-]

LokiSierra612@reddit

I don't know why, but there's a charm in the -200ER landing gear. The exposed wiring and strut at the front... the acute angle of said strut... like it fills a role meant for another

[-]

aimfulwandering@reddit

What an awesome video. Looks like KLM livery? Anyone have a source for this?

[-]

LokiSierra612@reddit

Looks like a KLM 777-200ER. Only operator I know of that has that blue and flies the -200ER.

Actually the reg is under the wing in this video. PH-BQF

[-]

powerstroke01@reddit

This is flight simulator or an animation. 100%

[-]

barkingcat@reddit

what gets me going is seeing that shiny piston/shock absorber slowly going down... oh yah....

[-]

AlpineVibe@reddit

Why is this stupid ass music necessary? Why?

[-]

barkingcat@reddit

Porno music is 100% required.

[-]

webdbbt@reddit

Aviation porn. Left me hot and sweaty.

[-]

TheDreadPirateJeff@reddit

Took me to Fap Level 69

[-]

ComedianAshamed578@reddit

Tyhle díly jsem vyráběl v Latecoere. 😁

[-]

barkingcat@reddit

slomo porn.

[-]

dman_21@reddit

Never realized landing gear was this sexy.

[-]

BrilliantDrama420@reddit

Jeez, talk about being a third wheel…

[-]

Kjpilot@reddit

Big foot

[-]

OkSatisfaction9850@reddit

The middle one: bro don’t bother me

[-]

JaMMi01202@reddit

My new life philosphy: be the middle wheel in the landing gear of the 777 of life.

[-]

TheGoatPDOG@reddit

Man that’s hot

[-]

IllustriousTear9656@reddit

Looks like AI to me

[-]

Which_Material_3100@reddit

I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the middle wheel to freaking turn.

[-]

dj4119@reddit

dumb question but do these tires have brakes in them or is all braking during landing handled using the air brakes?

[-]

Comfortable_Client80@reddit

Yes obviously they have brakes! Very big ones even, multi disc carbon ceramic brakes. Air brake won’t do much to stop on ground.

[-]

SerDuckOfPNW@reddit

Strictly speaking, you can stop with just reverse thrust…but it takes longer and has hazards associated with it.

[-]

dj4119@reddit

Thanks for replying. I found a YT video which helped me understand it better.
https://youtu.be/9qd5-2dKbD4?si=TlTfTu7gy4uqVTuV

[-]

Comfortable_Client80@reddit

Simple and clear explanation

[-]

ultrasuper3000@reddit

It's obviously not an issue or it wouldn't be like it is, but it amazes me how much the tires smoke when they hit the tarmac before they get spun up. I've always thought that to reduce a bit of wear they could add a tiny fan blade thing on each hub so the air pre-spins them a bit before impact

[-]

Sheffieldsvc@reddit

I recall reading that one of the ww2 bombers, maybe the B-24, had that feature. Particularly in that era when rubber was at a premium it made sense. When you factor in the labor costs of actually changing those tires, it still seems like a good idea.

[-]

Kuriente@reddit

Fascinating footage. So I'm assuming the rear tires need changed most often, followed by the front, and the middle probably last the longest?

[-]

OverthinkingAnything@reddit

Loved learning something new. That the bogies would be curved like a large flatbed trailer makes total sense.

[-]

BabiesatemydingoNSW@reddit

I don't think they are; kinda looks like the center tire is slightly shorter so it makes contact last.

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OverthinkingAnything@reddit

They are. Mechanic on the original post I saw this confirmed that this happens during maintenance as well. As the weight comes off (for when they test landing gear, for example) the middle wheel releases first.

Its not uncommon for structures that support a great deal of weight to be designed that way.

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