B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (jpeters140)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:18:04 GMT

Phillip...I don't know, but I doubt it....the early B-17s were developed in 1934/1935, and I suspect that by the time the B-29 was in Boeing Engineering, that they were deemed too troublesome, besides the designed gross wt of the B-17 was only about 56,000 lbs and the B-29 came in at Combat Load of 140,000 lbs..over the design wt of 120,000 lbs.

Jim :-)

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (walkerarmyairfield)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:35:45 GMT

Jim, Were there any one piece wheels with the snap rings used on B-29s? Phillip

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (jpeters140)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:30:18 GMT

Phillip.....Yes, I can explain....The original B-17 wheel was a one-piece wheel that used a snap ring to hold the tire & tube
on....the two piece B-29 type wheel is composed of two halves that are bolted together.

All of the flying B-17s and B-24s now use the B-29 type whee, along with the CAF B-29. l

The B-17 wheel was subject to corrosion where the snap ring...a hollow bent piece of tubing, made from steel, was used.

Some of the heavy truck wheels are of the snap ring type construction, and are very dangerous to inflate....as the snap ring has been known to disengage, and became a missile under the air pressure. It is recommeded that a cage is used to contain ANY wheel where the tire pressure can cause damage to equipment or persons, if it disengages, or where the bolts holding the two halves fail.
The B-52 (tubeless) wheels carried some 260 lbs of air pressure or nitrogen. Now, the use of nitrogen is required, to air up an aircraft wheel...there was a study, where, with as little as 10% O2 content internally in the tire, and with the heat of an aircraft brake where the aircraft brakes are used on landiing. the heat migrates to the tire, and may cause a fire and explosion.

ALL aircraft maintenance, and fire fighter personnel, are cautioned to approach a hot wheel with overheated brakes from the end of the wheel rather than from the side, to prevent injury in the event the wheel and tire explode due to the heat from the overheated brake.

Jim :-) 20+ years in the USAAFand USAF..Aircraft Maintainer.

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (walkerarmyairfield)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:12:59 GMT

Jim, Could you explain what they are talking about when they mention the two piece B-29 wheel? I understand some of the B-17s around the country are using the two piece wheel. Thank you, Phillip

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (walkerarmyairfield)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:07:12 GMT

Jim, Thank you for the part numbers. We now have the correct infomation to put on our wheels and tires for our museum project. I always like to be as accurate as we can on our item descriptions. Phillip

RE: B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (jpeters140)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:50:32 GMT

Reference Tech Order 00-45-1, 5 Feb 1945 Interchangeability and Cross Reference Charts

Note...Main Wheel interchangeability.....B-17,B-24, B-32, C-82, and PV-2 Navy Neptune
Note...Nose Wheel Interchangeability....B-24,B-29

Part Numbers for B-29 Main Gear Wheel 56" Smooth Contour

W-3-101M Hayes

Part Numbers for B-29 Nose Wheel 36" Smooth Cntour

530033M    Goodyear
4-3-103M   Hayes
581749-1    Bendix

Jim :-)

B-17 & B-29 Wheel Part Numbers (walkerarmyairfield)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:21:09 GMT

Does anyone have the part numbers of the B-17 and B-29 Main Wheels and possible the nose wheels. There are a lot of numbers stamped on these wheels. Part numbers or assembly numbers would be great. Thank you, Phillip