Changing a B-17 tire (silly)

[K5DH]

So, you need to change one of your B-17's main gear tires. Don't know how to break the bead? It's really easy. You lay the tire and rim down on the hangar floor and get four gullible helpers to jump up and down on the tire until the bead lets loose!



Yes, that's me with my hat on backwards. I was feeling REALLY silly.

Cheers!

[Elroy13]

Once we stuck a friends kid in the tire and rolled him down the hangar onto the ramp. He looked like a ghost once he came out with all the white powder, a dizzy ghost that is!

[Ztex]

Dean...that is silly...We used to take them over to the Guard base and let them put it on their C-130 tire machine...Where's the Albright boys when you need them?

Oh well..good to see it is bing changed the right tire looked a little worn.

Z

[Lynn Allen]

We used to take the main wheel of the B-25 Yellow Rose in town, Hondo, Texas then and the repairman would use the car lift to break the bead

Lynn

[CAPFlyer]

Silly maybe, but it works. How do you think we change tires on the R4D (or just about any tire at the DFW wing for that matter)? It works better than any other method we've tried (including forklifts, tugs and a few other ideas that never got past the "what if" stage).

[Forgotten Field]

You drive over the sidewall with whatever truck is handy. Or take it to the tire place that does tractor tires.