How To Change Aircraft Wheel
Ever wonder how the replacement of aircraft wheel been done? With big in size and heavy in weight, without special tools it will be imposible to be done. Here is the general description of it so that all of us have some ideas how it is done.
Depend on the organisation, in the company that currently i work with, we had a wheel change trolley where the new wheel is placed as well as the nitrogen bottle needed to charge the wheel.
Aircrat will be jacked from the axle to raised it up from the ground, then one and only nut that hold the entire wheel will be loosen and unserviceable wheel ready to be removed by sliding it out from the axle.
With the wheel dolly, which can be raised and lowered, the weight of the wheel will be supported and the wheel will be slide out from the axle, later on the new wheel be placed on the dolly and slide back to the axle.
The big nut again will be tightened and torqued to certain level to ensure proper sitting of the bearing sof the wheel, then it will loosen again and final tightening at lower torque to secure the wheel.
Take note that on B737 BBJ, the only thing that hold the wheel is this big nut on the left, however this big nut is secured by two extra bolt to prevent it getting loose during operation.
2 comments :
Thank you for descriping how to change the aircraft wheel. It helps me alot during my school report about the airplane.
My question to you now is:
Do you know how often it is necessary to change the wheels? And what do they do with the used wheels?
Thanks from Denmark
Hi Agnes,
The wheel assembly (tyre and hub) will be change only if it worn out or damaged during operation. It is difficult to say how long it can last as it all depend on the way the aircraft been handled during taxi, takeoff and landing such as heavy breaking, runaway surfaces and so on. Under and overinflated also can contribute to the life of the the tyre. Frequency of flight also one of the main factor.
Depend on airline policies, the tyre either will be scrapped or rethread, but the rethreading is limited only for few cycles depend of the manufacturer's limit. As for the hub, it will be cleaned, reinspect and assemble back with new wheel. All of this is done in the wheel workshop.
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