Flat Tyre On An Aircraft...........??????

[Guest]

I'm in the process of building an AERO MB200 Bomber (1:72)............ and I'm thinking maybe I'll have a go at incorporating it into a diorama.......... So I have a question????

To change a tyre the wheel needs to be off........ So how did they lift the aircraft to do that ???? .............. Did they shove a dirt great jack under it or throw a sling under a wing and lift it a bit with a crane ???? ........... Bearing in mind this is 1940........ Luftwaffe and a fixed undercarriage........

If someone could give me a pointer on this I'd be grateful........... Thanks

Peter

[Guest]

Odds are, as aircraft are built down to a weight unlike for example a car, they're not as heavy as you'd expect, they would have used a jacking device to lift at the axle and chocked it up on that, I suspect any improvised chocking device would have been used as well as any 'official' ones

[Guest]

Thanks..........So a jack and a few railway sleepers ???? ................. and a groundcrew sitting around having a smoke then.

Cheers

Peter

[Guest]

In some cases they did use a jack but that would have been a luxury.

Andy

[ATTACH]21913.vB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]28801.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

So........if a jack was a luxury ........... what would they have used ????..................

Peter

[Guest]

4 strong lads and some wood?

[spanner570]

Not far off Penny!

Fulcrum / leverage / effort.....

Take one large timber of suitable length and thickness place under offending object (leverage) place a smaller lump of of summat (fulcrum) under this around 1/3 along the timber from the object to be lifted. Get the blokes to stand on the other end (effort)...up it goes. If too much effort is required move small lump neared the object to be lifted, thus requiring less effort.

Phew!!

Ron

[stona]

At a base with maintenance facilities they would jack it or crane it. They were fond of wooden trestles,instructions on how to use them feature in most Luftwaffe type maintenence manuals.They would usually use these to support the aircraft during maintenance.

In the field they'd do what they had to do. Manpower,levers,chocks etc. They might use a hydraulic bomb loader as a jack.It looks a bit precarious and would have my old metal work teacher ("always use the correct tool for the job") spinning in his grave.

Cheers

Steve

Edit: for those not familiar with Luftwaffe equipment the bomb loader was used to transport bombs to the aircraft and then jack them up to the loading points. Here it is being used "properly".

Steve

[Ian M]

I have pictures in my mind of some poor guy dangling six foot up in the air, on the wronge end of a lever, while the others just stand there laughing their tits off!

[Guest]

I have pictures in my mind of some poor guy dangling six foot up in the air, on the wronge end of a lever, while the others just stand there laughing their tits off!

Please dont make comments like this when Im trying to drink a mug of coffee. Now I need to buy some PC wipes

[stona]

I have pictures in my mind of some poor guy dangling six foot up in the air, on the wronge end of a lever, while the others just stand there laughing their tits off!

I bet it happened!

Steve

[Guest]

Not far off Penny!Fulcrum / leverage / effort.....

Take one large timber of suitable length and thickness place under offending object (leverage) place a smaller lump of of summat (fulcrum) under this around 1/3 along the timber from the object to be lifted. Get the blokes to stand on the other end (effort)...up it goes. If too much effort is required move small lump neared the object to be lifted, thus requiring less effort.

Phew!!

Ron

I vaguely remember all that from when I took A level physics...............

[Guest]

Thanks to all for your help.................... I Think I'll come up with some kind of improvised lifting thing.................. and some "to scale" railway sleepers" under the undercarriage struts.

Cheers to All

Peter

[Guest]

Just as a matter of interest, when we do a wheel replace/maintenance on an aircraft you are supose to jack it not on the under cart itself, but from the jackpoints marked with a little "diamond" sighn.

They are usualy under the wings as the fuselarge is sometimes to narrow and the thing can topple over.

Here is a pic of a T-6 harvard I took and if you look colsely you can see a round pretrution approx 20mm in size sticking out in the daglow section.

It is designed to fit into a special reciever socket on the top of the jack. We also jack up the planes to cycle the under cart during inspections.

If you were to put any form of jack or big lever in an incorrect place, you are very likely to put it through the aircraft's skin......to big anoyence of the crew chief!

[ATTACH]22263.vB[/ATTACH]

Theuns

[ATTACH]29119.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]29120.IPB[/ATTACH]

[AlanG]

On the Tornado there is a jacking point under all three u/c legs. You just wheel in the jack and pump like a trolley jack and it lifts the leg that is required. Takes about 10 mins to change a wheel although nose wheels are changed in pairs because then you get even wear on the tyres.