Replace the Tyres on Your Plane

Say you fly your biz jet to some remote island and upon arrival you realize that you've punctured a tire on landing. It would be good to know how to change that tire wouldn't it?!

These tyres are worn (notice weird wearing) and ready to be replaced with ones like on the right.

this is an essential step, not all planes have these nifty wind-resistance saving covers but ours did. Off they come!

remove the cotter-pin from the hub and turn off the castle nut. Remember to place all your small parts in a central location so they don't accidentally "walk away" during the process.

There are two bolts that hold the halves of the caliper together. on Cessna's and planes equipped with these type breaks you only need to remove the two bolts that hold the halves of the caliper together.

This is a great time to clean any parts and to grease the bearing seats.

to make tyre removal more convenient we removed the valve from the valve stem. we next unbolted the rim halves

we used a woodworkers bench vice to squeeeze the tyre off it's bead. we also tried jumping on the tyre. after a short time we got it off...

Notice that there is a paint mark and a HUGE sticker that marks where the light balance is on the tyre? when you place everything back together you're going to place the valve stem in line with that.

We filled the tube up with just enough air to keep folds from developing and put Talc in the tyre to reduce tube-on-tyre friction

try to avoid folds and make sure you align the valve stem with the arrows.

make sure that you don't pinch the tube between the rim halves, also make sure that you return all the hardware to it's appropriate place. (this means no extra washers)
You can use an air compressor to fill the tyre but we like the old fashion way. we also wanted to avoid folds and other tube creep.

After entering the requisite information in the log book you can push the plane back out into the scorching heat and take her for a spin!
(literally and figuratively) 

Remember; all maintenance on an airplane must be overseen by a certified A&P aircraft mechanic. All bolts must be torqued to their respective torques and all tyre pressures must be what is acceptable for the particular aircraft. This is a dangerous project, only do it with the required tools and training.