Luftwaffe's whitewall tires (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

GrauGeist

Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
I noticed recently, that the tail tire of the Fw190A-3 recovered in Norway a while back had a whitewall tire.

I remember reading somewhere in the past that the Luftwaffe used whitewall tires in Africa in an attempt to preserve the tires from the elements, but never really found out if that was successful or not.

I also don't recall seeing (or perhaps hadn't noticed) many whitewall tires in any period photos, either of Africa or Europe.

Anybody out there have more info on the whitewalls?

Here's a photo of Yellow 16's tail wheel showing the whitewall tire:
 

Attachments

  • fw190a3_yellow_16_12jg5_tire.jpg
    fw190a3_yellow_16_12jg5_tire.jpg
    115.9 KB · Views: 388
Now I'm going back through all my Afrika photos trying to see if there were whitewalls, and I'll be danged if the vast majority of the photos have thier tires obscured from view! :xcensoredx:

I did find one good one that definately shows whitewalls on the Bf109.

I'm thinking that this might be something that folks have been overlooking in thier North Africa Luftwaffe profiles and model finishes...
 

Attachments

  • Bf109_FuelDepot_Afrika.jpg
    Bf109_FuelDepot_Afrika.jpg
    104.2 KB · Views: 397
  • Bf109_Whitewall_Afrika.jpg
    Bf109_Whitewall_Afrika.jpg
    57.1 KB · Views: 399
Hi, here are some little findings on my books:

Tail of a FW-190A:
FW190-A.png


The same tail wheel in detail:
FW190-tail%20wheel.png


This is said is from a Bf109K with retractable tail wheel:
109K%20tail%20wheel.png


Cheers
 
...
Anybody out there have more info on the whitewalls?
...
Very simple: It's an indicator that the aircraft is electrically grounded by/ via the tire(s).
As you know, rubber is usually an insulator. In this case the tire is the "electric outlet to the ground. Otherwise a socket and wire would have to be installed into the plane to let this happen.
 
Very simple: It's an indicator that the aircraft is electrically grounded by/ via the tire(s).
As you know, rubber is usually an insulator. In this case the tire is the "electric outlet to the ground. Otherwise a socket and wire would have to be installed into the plane to let this happen.
Dude...seriously, what?

Grounding the aircraft? And once it's in the air, you run a long extension cord to it?

The aircraft has a propietary electrical system, just like your automobile. In a negative ground system, the positive portion of the circuit is insulated from the chassis to allow for circuit function, wether or not the machine is sitting on the ground or in the air. This same theory would apply to positive ground systems where the negative side of the circuit is insulated from the chassis. No matter if it's 6 volt, 12 volt, 24, 48 72 volt direct current (DC) systems...

At no point is the ground that the machine is sitting on influencing the onboard electrical circuit's function. And rubber tires do not nessecarily protect a vehicle/aircraft from lightning because the bolt will arc from the machine to earth regardless of the type, size or even color of the tires.
 
Very simple: It's an indicator that the aircraft is electrically grounded by/ via the tire(s).
As you know, rubber is usually an insulator. In this case the tire is the "electric outlet to the ground. Otherwise a socket and wire would have to be installed into the plane to let this happen.



Now that is funny. Probably the most off the wall answer I have seen for quite some time.
 
well..its a fact..the white wash on the rear tires are for static electricity. all german aircrafts has that on the rear tire !
and only the rear
so chris is not of the wall at all
( why is your car safe when its lightning outside ? because of the tires !!! )

look closely and you will see it on all german aircrafts on the tailwheel.

been working with german aircrafts for 11 years now restoring them.. He 111, Ju 88A1 and A5, Ju 52, Fw 190 and seen and studied german aircrfats for 15 years
 
and the white does not DO anything..it just indicate as ChrisMAg2 said..that its grounded.. so next time its lighning outside and we all know for a fact that the car is the safest place to be..its because of the tires..same with the A/C. its just that the germans had a "symbol" for it..that is what ChrisMag tried to tell. here is a picture of our 100% original Ju 88 tailwheel ( the tailfork has been restored but the wheel is not done anything with !! and i can get pictures of other tailwheels as well with the same white. They all had it !!

also a picture of the Ju 52 we have
 

Attachments

  • tailwheel.jpg
    tailwheel.jpg
    41.7 KB · Views: 231
  • Ju 52 tail.jpg
    Ju 52 tail.jpg
    37 KB · Views: 311

Users who are viewing this thread

Back