Tires are not usually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of airplane design. On most aircraft, the landing gear is an awkward necessity, something to help one get airborne and settle on after committing aviation. Our future electric aircraft might have power-driven wheels to shorten takeoff and landing distances, making them less inconvenient and more beneficial. Conventional rubber tires and wheels are heavy, though, and reducing their avoirdupois would enable better performance from a lighter airplane, or allow more batteries for longer range or better performance. Dr. Brien Seeley, founder and President of the CAFE Foundation, wants to visit the best of all possible tire worlds by exploring the potential of polyurethane tires, reducing the need for rubber-based tires along with eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Polyurethane tires have some advantages worth exploring, while we maintain some objectivity about the reasons we don’t see more of them on our cars, for instance. Rubber tires are weighty …
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