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Volume 1, Issue 2  DAILY TIRE PRESSURE CHECKS DELIVER
ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE
In addition, for aircraft tire applications where retreading is utilized, proper tire pressure maintenance will enhance the carcass durability, which will result in an increased number of retread lives per tire carcass. In this case, the tire economics dramatically improve as the number of allowed retread lives go up. The Goodyear Aircraft Tire Care and Maintenance manual recommends that the tires be checked when cool at least once every 24 hours. In many cases, the airlines perform a daily “visual” check; however, under-inflation is most commonly not visible without an actual gauged pressure check. Goodyear is currently the only Bombardier approved tire supplier for the CRJ regional jet, but proper tire care and maintenance is critical for all aircraft. Other regional airline fleets supported by Goodyear Aviation include the Bombardier CRJ 200, CRJ 900, and the Embraer 135, 140, and 145. In an effort to improve the tire and wheel economics at the airlines, the Goodyear Aviation Product Support and Sales team has spent a great deal of time working with airline maintenance associates and promoting proper tire care and maintenance. 
In late March, Goodyear held its first ever airline tire symposium in Thailand. Not only did the event provide an open forum for over 70 participants from major airlines in the Asia region to exchange views and share each others’ experiences, the event also allowed Goodyear to inform the participants of current tire research and development programs, as well as tire improvement efforts being practiced to bring reliable and high performance tires to the airline market.
Presentations were given by Goodyear associates from the head office where a variety of topics were discussed ranging from tire care and maintenance, marketing, product quality and tire technology.
All popular sizes are available with additional sizes to be added before year’s end. The following sizes are currently available:
An estimated 160,000 people and nearly 5,000 airplanes participated in a number of events such as aerobatic air show performances, static displays and fly by’s. Since Goodyear sells general aviation tires and tubes through distributors, exhibiting at Sun-N-Fun affords an unique opportunity to meet and talk with the aircraft owners and pilots who use Goodyear products. While the event’s focus is general aviation, it’s not uncommon for airline pilots and members of the military to stop and chat. The focus of Goodyear’s activity at Sun-N-Fun is to provide information on Goodyear products, what differentiates Goodyear, and to provide care and maintenance information related to safe and economical tire and tube operation. A big hit this year was the appearance of the Goodyear blimp out of Pompano Beach, Florida. The blimp arrived Thursday and departed Saturday, and during that time made several loca flights. Goodyear was able to offer rides to Piper, Cessna, Cirrus, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Air Tran, American Airlines, Adam Aircraft associates in addition to air show performers and local media.
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Based on
the results of a survey performed by Bombardier on the CRJ 700 fleet,
airlines performing daily tire pressure checks are seeing far more landings and dramatically
reducing operating
cost. The numbers show 30% higher average landings per main tire for these
airlines
with daily pressure checks. This increase in landing performance results
in a vast reduction in
the quantity of wheel change/overhauls over time, thus dramatically reducing
cost.
The
conference was conducted in Bangkok followed
by a plant tour of the Goodyear Aviation tire
manufacturing site in Bangkok.
A
new line of aircraft tubes has been introduced to address
the issue of inflation loss over time, which is characteristic
of the traditional natural rubber based tube construction.
The Flight Mate line of tubes is based on butyl rubber construction
which retains inflation up to 10 times better than
natural rubber, while still offering extremely cold weather
operation -58 degrees F. An extensive in service evaluation
program was conducted to quantify air retention on in
service aircraft prior to introduction. The Flight Mate tube
line continues to use a “premium” inflation valve and metal
cap, continuous extruded construction with no overlapping
splice for better balance and is manufactured to Aerospace
Standard AS50141 requirements.
In addition, each Flight Mate tube is individually packaged
while on the shelf to provide easy identification.
The
30th annual Sun-N-Fun EAA Fly-in was
held at Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland,
Florida April 13-19, 2004. In addition to the
30th anniversary of the event, this year
marked the 10th anniversary of Goodyear’s
attendance and exhibiting at this event. It
also marked the first appearance ever of
the Goodyear blimp.