airbornpilot

Hey all,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me some reasons a tire might appear to have “melted” in a spot from hydroplaning? (search google imade for “melted airplane tire from hydroplaning“ and most images are close enough to what Im talking about. The small patches on the tires.

I know it can happen when landing with the brakes on on a wet runway. I’ve seen all the videos and whatnot for that.

But can it happen without landing with the breaks on or stuck?

My manager refuses to believe it could happen any other way.

We noticed this patch after i greassed one on on a wet runway. I knew we were going to be exiting the 9000ft runway at the end, so i did not use breaks. in fact i had my heels were Just touching the floor because a few weeks ago and I had hit the breaks too soon on landing, so I was extra aware of it. This landing was particularly a very good one. i hate saying that cause I dont wanna sound like a jerk. I mess up landings... blah blah. Passengers said how good it was. so it didnt feel at all like a break was on.

My thought is that it simply just happened. The tired failed in that particular spot (didnt go flat, but melted) when it came in contact with the wet ground. The wheel Doesn’t have to be locked in place in order for this to happen? Maybe the break was stuck just enough?

Please send me as many possibilities you can think of.

thanks!

AirBear

I assume the aircraft had anti-skid brakes? If so and they were working correctly you shouldn't have a melted spot. However with a very nice landing on a wet runway the anti-skid activation could have been delayed long enough for the tire to lock up and cause melting. But you really need to tell us the model aircraft involved and see if anyone here has some expertise in it.

NetJets had a Phenom that landed during a rain storm in Texas. They were hydroplaning big time. Applying the normal brakes they didn't seem to be slowing down. Thinking they had a malfunction they applied the Emer Brakes, which have no anti-skid. All they did was steam-clean the runway prior to going off the end.

JohnBurke

Reverberated rubber hydroplaning.

You can flat spot or smoke a tire by trying to grease it on; that's not always preferable. However, if you applied any brake to the wheel prior to the full weight on the wheel, it's very possible to have smoked the tire (by smoked I mean flat spotted or otherwise damaged, including heating to the point of melted rubber.

No, flat spots don't "just happen," and neither do melted tires or melting around a flat spot (which points to reverberated rubber hydroplaning).

You don't need a wet runway, incidentally, for reverberated rubber hydroplaning. You only need to rapidly heat the tire by skidding enough to melt it and the resulting steam produced as the tire heats and melts will produce your hydroplaning situation. At that point, it becomes self-feeding, and all you can do is get off the brakes.

On a wet runway, your chances of this occurring increase further until you get the weight of the aircraft on the wheels. Stay off the brakes. High speed, reverse. Low speed, brakes. Especially if you're running high flotation tires on that airplane.

rickair7777

I think your autocorrect meant "reverted".

Maybe it happened on a prior leg and wasn't caught on a walk-around because it was at the six o'clock position?

B757

..Seen that on a CRJ, long time ago..Both left main tires flat spotted to a point, where some of the cords were starting to show..New tires, nothing wrong with the aircraft..According to MX, the wheels had significant ice buildup from previous taxi / takeoff, and were frozen in place until landing..

Fly safe,
B757

rickair7777

Fortunately the CRJ has digital data which would show that the brakes weren't pressed or set by the crew, and would show zero wheel spin.