Appealing to the joint forum wisdom and experience – it would appear that I somehow while going down to Figari and back I got two flat spots (one each wheel).
Before the stealership tries to fleece me, any specific tyre / tire recommendations?
Desser retread. More durable than factory new.
it would appear that I somehow
I believe that “somehow” has something to do with your feet on the brakes 
Brakes catching at one position as wheel rotates? Feet on brake would otherwise wear all over. Unusual to affect both wheels similarly.
I did stand on the brakes today when landing in Geneva as putting the boost pump on to prevent vapor lock at idle resulted in a rich cut. So I had to goose the throttle to revive the engine which took me merrilly past my turnoff despite heavy braking. This after being told to do a threshold landing… ha.
I buy the best there is. They last so long it doesn’t matter. Goodyear, I think.
Running a fleet I have had a good look at the best tyres to use and as Peter says the Goodyear tyres are the best lasting but the most expensive by a moderate margin over the next brand Michelin.
In terms of landings per € the Michelin is the best deal by a small margin but it usually reaches the wear limit at about 150 hours and so the aircraft is on a maintenance check ( that requires the aircraft to be jacked up ) at the time that the tyre is most likely to be worn almost to the limit.
The Goodyear goes on for about another 30-40 hours and has to be replaced between maintenance checks.
The cheapest brand of aircraft tyres are lucky to reach 50 hours and in terms of landings per € are over three times the price of the Goodyear after the cost of fitting is taken to account.
The conclusion is that the Michelin offers a small advantage over the Goodyear in terms of landing per € but that advantage is very small, the real saving is in Labour as the Michelin reaches the wear limits at a maintenance check that requires the removal of the wheels for inspection and servicing.
These numbers are for the main wheel tyres of a Cessna 152 operating from a hard runway for PPL training.
As a different datapoint; two out of three tyres on my plane are still factory new. 10 years, 900 hours, 800 landings. The nosegear tyre will go on quite a bit longer. The RH one will soon get changed (LH one was changed last year as it looked bad).
A and C
How much longer do u get by landing on grass and where do you get your tyres from?
Bathman
I have no grass runway data but consider the grass landings my aircraft do insignificant to the usual 8 to 10 landings per hour when the aircraft is in the circuit.
I suspect that the very cheap tyres would be much better on grass than on a hard surface and that a Goodyear on grass is likely to age crack before the tred is even showing signs of wear.
Tyres are usually supplied by Watts tyres.
A quick look at the numbers puts Boscomantico’s tyre wear per landing in the same ballpark as mine.
Another thing that has to be said is that on some types you have NO alternative tyre options and the part number in the IPC must be used as the outside diameter varies between tyre brands and it has been known for tyres to retract into the wheel well but hang up and not let the landing gear come down ! A bit of an expensive outcome when just trying to save a few € !
NIL: Long-body Mooneys eat tires, period.
I look after a couple Ovations and they are constantly getting flat spots.
At first, I thought that it was just bad piloting, but I’m now starting to think that the added weight and the very un-forgiving rubber doughnut suspension is the real culprit.
