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Make sure to check your tire pressure!

I feel the need to tell this story so others don't have to.
First of all a little context. I had been laid up with ankle surgery and had not flown for the past 3 months. My goal after being released to full weight bearing was to get my 12 back in the air before my condition inspection which expired February 1st and charge the Dynon back up battery so I could do the annual battery test. Excited to finally get back in the air on a clear cold January day I preflighted the plane, glanced at the tires (which always look low under the wheel pants and went flying). After getting the backup battery charged I returned to the airport and landed. Upon landing I noticed the plane decelerated faster than normal and taxied off the runway. While taxiing down the taxi way my plane made several 360 degree turns around my left main landing gear. I thought it was my brakes but instead it was my completely flat left main tire and I was grinding up and cracking my wheel pant. Laying on a cold frozen taxiway trying to remove my wheel pant was a total pain, but finally got it removed. Since I didn't have any appropriate way to jack up the wheel and was blocking the taxiway I was lucky the airport staff was able to assist me lifting the wing by the handhold on the end of the wing while I shoved a dolly underneath the flat wheel. Wasn't at all keen on how we lifted the airplane but all went well and towed the airplane back to the hangar. Turns out I spun the tube. So after a new tube, some fiberglass repair and color matched paint I am back in the air. It would have so much easier to lay on the cold hangar floor and check tire pressure before the flight!
 
Not as much as me

I would be checking before first flight of the day. But that's just how I role. Another reason why I'm not doing wheel pants.:D
 
I took my wheel pants off after I saw a 12 with a flat tire and realized what would happen to the pants. I also got tired of the hassle of removing the front half to add air. I was never able to make all those suggestions about working through small inspection ports work when adding air. Now it?s a no-never-mind to add air.
 
What happened to speed when you removed the pants? I?ve never flown without them but have read they are worth 4-5 kts. Not sure I could make that sacrifice!

Jack
 
I also took my wheelpants off this winter after a flat tire. I don't see any or hardly any speed change the way I use the plane. The only thing is the mud on the wings and tail when flying to grass fields without wheel pants (and it looks a bit ugly without)
 
Truck tire valve extension

Like Greg, I also have experienced a flat tire (mine was very apparent as I was lining up to take off). However in my case I closed the runway because the RV wasn?t moving forward with power - just wanting to turn left. Also damaged my wheel pant which wasn?t easy to repair.

Following this incident I drilled 1 inch holes in my main wheel pants and marked my tires where the valve stem protruded through the wheel. I then went to a truck stop and bought a six inch valve extender that I screw on to take tire pressures. It?s now a ten minute job to check main tire air pressures. The nose wheel tire takes another 15 - 20 minutes because I still have to remove its wheel pant.

I check pressures every three months unless there?s been a major temperature change. Major temperature drops usually see me checking more often.
 
keep your pants on

I made a wooden "go/no-go" gauge for my planes.
  • Take the pants off
  • lower the pressure to the minimum that you will tolerate flying.
  • Put the pants back on.
  • Take a scrap of wood and make a notch on one side.
  • File the notch until it just barely passes under the wheel pant.
  • Repeat with a different notch (if needed) for nose wheel.
  • Remove pants
  • Re-inflate to desired max pressure
  • Re-install pants.

Preflight check now consists of putting the gauge against the tire. If the wheel pant prevents you from doing so, you are too low to go.

Tire%20Pressure%20Go-NoGo%20gauge.jpeg

IMG_1727.jpeg

(Ignore the notch below the Mains side of the RV-12 tool).
 
Keep in mind that ambient air temperature and tire wear can impact the results of the gauge's use. It is nevertheless a helpful approximate indicator as to tire pressure and tread condition since it requires you to get down and dirty and look at the tire close up.
 
Keep in mind that ambient air temperature and tire wear can impact the results of the gauge's use. It is nevertheless a helpful approximate indicator as to tire pressure and tread condition since it requires you to get down and dirty and look at the tire close up.

Approximate heights for the notches, front and mains? Understand the height may vary with brands of tires you run, too.
 
Approximate heights for the notches, front and mains? Understand the height may vary with brands of tires you run, too.

Sorry for the delay in reply, I was off-line for a few weeks.

I don't have any numbers with me and I won't be back out to the hangar for a while. I didn't make any measurements with a ruler, just marked up the wood with a sharpie then cut, fit, & repeated until I had what I wanted.
 
What about a TPMS like one of these?

They look kinda big and perhaps heavy. Our little 5" wheels spin pretty fast. At very least, tire would probably need balance weights to compensate...
 
They look kinda big and perhaps heavy. Our little 5" wheels spin pretty fast. At very least, tire would probably need balance weights to compensate...

I just found a few other threads on TPMS, but not much in the way of actual experience. I did not read 100% of the search hits though.

Looks like there is a system specifically for experimental AC, but quite a price tag and no reviews.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/tiresensor.php?clickkey=5865
 
I agree. Except for looks, the wheel fairings don't do much for you on most flights. So I think it is far more important to have access for inspecting your wheels, brakes and tires before each flight. I do put them on for long cross country trips where the 4 knot speed increase is appreciable.
 
I just bought a new RV-12 iS this summer and took my main wheel pants off last week. Tired of not knowing the tire pressure and yes I do believe there is a 2-4 kt speed loss which doesn't matter to me because just flying around locally at 100 kts anyway. I do have a habit of "over" inflating my tires when I fill occasionally to 30psi. Does anyone have thoughts-concerns about a little over inflation.
 
Tires absorb some of the shock when landing. Correct tire pressure is especially important on the nose wheel.
 
Just filled my main tires up for the lower air temps. Set to 28 psi.

I know it's going to be a lot colder and need air added again by late December, so I left the wheel pants off.
 
If you fit wheel pants you definitely need a valve hole and an extension. With that its not a big deal to check and correct tyre pressure.

Yes the fairings are difficult to remove if you get a flat and you need to lift the wing. In my opinion the plane looks better with them on.

With my RV9 I lose 10 kts without them on. Obviously more drag at higher speed. My 12 will have first flight in next 6 weeks:)
 
The wheel pants aren’t that big a deal to remove front half to add air for main wheels. I have TPM’s on both main wheels so I don’t have to dick with the wheel pants unless absolutely necessary. At the beginning of October, I added some O-ring sealant on the valve stems and it improved the TPM sealing. The O-ring sealant looks like a real sticky silicone grease. I use the TPM cell phone app as part of my preflight and log tire pressures to spot any problems.

 
Reading this thread it sounds like a lot of people do not have a hole in their wheel fairings for checking & adding air to the tire? Which surprises me, as it seems like a safety issue not having an easy way to check the pressure. If the hole bugs you aesthetically just get a set of these, they work great https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/hapages/accessdoors.php
 

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I have wheel pants, I think the plane looks better with them, nothing more.

My pants have a hole that lines up with the valve stem. There is a mark on the tire that points to the ground when the valve stem is aligned with the hole. This makes it easy to find the stem. I use an extension and a digital gauge.

I check and reset the pressure on all 3 every month, there is a reminder on the calendar.
Every time I walk up to the plane whether it is just moved out from the hangar to fly, or walking back to it after a fly lunch, I look at the tires. I can't "see" the pressure but I can tell if one is different from the others.

The remote sensor is novel but IMHO it is just something else to leak. Having the pants off is an option for easier access but the hole is not that hard to work with.

If a flat occurs on the nose wheel in the air it would possibly cause more damage on landing than just a damaged wheel pant (possible flip or ??, even if the pant was not used.

My 5 cents;
 
If you get a flat with wheel pants you can’t just add air to move the plane because the bottom screws won’t be accessible. You’ll have to Jack it up to do anything. Doesn’t sound like a big deal ...unless it goes flat at a tie down and you need to taxi to the FBO shop.
 
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