Ever wondered how the wheels of an aircraft is changed? This 1m+ video describes how one of Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 747’s 18 wheels is changed?
Each tyre on Boeing 747 aircraft weighs 228kg and spans 56 inches from top to bottom. The whole process starts by lifting the landing gear with a Jack after which the old wheel is loosen and removed from the Boeing 747 aircraft.
Grease is then applied before a brand new wheel is securely fitted and tightened. It is then inflated with 200psi of Nitrogen. Nitrogen is used instead of water vapour in this case because water vapour would freeze when tyres are subjected to extreme cold at high altitudes .
And finally, the wheel are released from the jack back to the ground. The wide-body commercial jet airliner is then towed by a pushback tractor and ready to fly to its next destination.
Boeing’s 747 is one of the largest passenger planes in the air. The 747-400 variant has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.85–0.855 (up to 570 mph or 920 km/h) with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles (13,450 km).
The 150 tons aircraft can accommodate 416 passengers in a typical three-class layout, 524 passengers in a typical two-class layout, or 660 passengers in a high–density one-class configuration.