john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (06/26/90)
In <1990Jun21.222726.25375@wam.umd.edu> yun@wam.umd.edu (Dragon Taunter) writes: > In <52221@ames.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: > > The left nose tire was changed because of a scuff mark that > > probably occurred during the tow to the OPF. > Does this mean that the tires are only used once and then > replaced? A landing would be much more severe on the tires > than just a tow, no? Based on the shuttle tire on display at the Kansas Cosmoshere, a shuttle landing causes a surprising amount of wear on a tire. The tires are physicially large and heavy. The suff mark caused by the initial touch down is about 3" wide by 5" long, and about 1/8" deep. Die-hard tire fans simply have to visit the hobby shop at the Crossroad Mall in Oklahoma City. They have one tire from a Blackbird (SR-71) and a Valkarie (XB-70, AV1) on display. Like the shuttle tire, they are all silver colored--must have something to do with resisting the heat. So what does one have to do to get a Valkarie tire? -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!bungia!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================