# Aircraft Question pertaining to wheels. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289 "2012-07-15T10:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289/21 "2012-07-16T10:12:49Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Decel after touchtdown doesn’t produce the same dramatic puff of white smoke as touchdown, but decel represents a LOT of energy being dissipated into the tread itself (not just into the brakes). Most of the energy for deceleration comes from reverse thrust, not the brakes. (Aircraft are required to be capable of stopping on brakes only, for obvious reasons, but such a landing will almost always require a full tire/brake pad change after.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289/22 "2012-07-16T10:23:12Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > No the red treadmill is for landings only there are no take offs from the red treadmill. Listen **Rick** , don’t start up with your red treadmill shit again. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289/23 "2012-07-16T13:28:59Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Most of the energy for deceleration comes from reverse thrust, not the brakes. (Aircraft are required to be capable of stopping on brakes only, for obvious reasons, but such a landing will almost always require a full tire/brake pad change after.) This is not true at all. The jet I fly doesn’t even _have_ reverse thrust. The brakes are used to stop on every landing and there is no significant tyre or brake wear. Qantas had a runway overrun several years ago that was caused in part by a company policy not to use reverse thrust which would indicate that tyre and brake wear is not significant on the bigger jets either. Reverse thrust is most effective at high speeds and will take care of the initial deceleration if it is used, but the brakes are quite capable of being used for the entire stop with no subsequent maintenance required. A maximum braking stop that you might do if you were rejecting a takeoff can cause tyres and brakes to overheat but it is very rare that you’d need maximum braking. I’ve never used it personally. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289/24 "2012-07-17T16:53:28Z")
IIRC, no cite, but my Dad was an acceptance pilot for the Army on B-24’s, … anywho, supposedly they molded scoops into the tires to spin them up for landing and the resultant increase in need runway length to get stopped was just too much & the resultant wear on the brakes, heat, etc was too much. Remember, no reverse thrust, propeller reversing and fancy materials in WWII like we have for today’s aircraft. They had reversing propellers but not for the warplanes in general because of problems and weight considerations , etc. that are not really relevant. If you have been driving cars since the stone age like me, you will remember brake fade was a lot more common than it is today. Tire material, brake pad and drum material, before disc brakes remember, were not up to the modern standards we have now. As for modern aircraft, most of the reasons have already be covered. What has not be noted yet is speed of retraction, the need to not use the brakes to stop tire rotation before it goes in the wheel well, ice lock ups can & do happen even today when that mistake is made in the wrong weather conditions, & the spin up cups work anytime the wheels are in the wind, even on take off before retraction. The motors to rotate & their complexity , cost, and disadvantages have already been noted. B-17, B-24, B-36, makes no difference, it was tried, it was discarded and it is still not worth it in modern times. Just going on what my Dad said long ago what I read. ( No cite but when has that ever stopped me. ) Your Burnouts May Vary Aside: Sometime the burnt rubber that is the black spot on runways can be up to 6 inches or more thick before they go out and grind it off… I was amazed at that when I found out… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-question-pertaining-to-wheels/628289.md?page=1)