Boeing 787 Dreamliner Tires: Up Close At OSH11 (Triple Play)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 10:11PM 
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Seeing the original Boeing 787 at Oshkosh 2011 up-close with essentially no barriers for several hours on Friday July 29th was a truly fantastic experience. You may know that I'd been angling for over a year to get the 787 on the ramp at OSH. It was awesome knowing that this was the first time that everyday people had ever been allowed to walk through, under, around, and even peek into every little open space of this revolutionary airliner. I couldn't stop looking at it. I literally took hundreds and hundreds of pictures. And for fun, I took some of them up really close. I hope to post a photo essay before long on the airplane with 30 or 40 of the best and most uniqie pix that I got.
But for now, and just for fun, I present you the closest look you've ever had of the Bridgstone tires on the Boeing 787 prototype, ZA001. These tires are size 50x20.0R22, and have 34 plys. Their speed rating is 235 mph, and the rated load is 65,525 pounds. Each tire weighs about 219 pounds and they are considered a 'revolutionary reinforced radial', which is a new technology radial tire according to the Bridgestone website. Honestly, all those details don't interest me as much as being able to see that little bulge in the sidewall in the pic above. I find it just a tad boggling that some reinforced rubber inflated with air can support the weight of something so big. In some kind of weird way, seeing that little bulge just makes it all the more real to me... somehow it all makes sense because of the little bulge : )
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I thought it interesting that they had the info seen above stenciled on each tire. I guess it's there to make sure you feel really guilty if you just happen to have one of these sitting in the corner of the den back home!
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And here's a wider view showing a couple of tires from a main gear leg along with some of the axle and braking components. I took several pix at OSH this year with the camera on the monopod, but turned upside down positioned on my foot right above the ground. This unique perspective is actually pretty easy to get with a flip-out live-view screen and a wireless remote shutter release. And here, it gives you the chance to actually look up at the electric brakes. I really like the unusual point of view... especially when it's of such a special aircraft.
Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for that big-time photo essay with loads of interesting 787 images - I think it's gonna turn out pretty cool.
Reader Comments (1)
Awesome images!
Now that's... what I'm talking about! Unusual aviation POVs rock wings! Looking forward to the new Dreamliner uploads, Martt.