Mangled 172s in CHS?

Let the air out and the tires get heavier, so it increases the weight! :confused2:

More ground contact/friction?
 
Years ago I owned a Grumman Yankee and kept it tied down on the ramp in eastern NC. A guy next to me owned one a couple years older. One summer, a hurricane was headed toward us and a friend offered me his empty Tee hangar. When I got to the airport to move my plane to the hangar, the guy next to me had doubled his tiedown ropes, let some air out of his tires, and strapped 2x4s to the wings, like a homemade version of the spoilers above. I thought he was an idiot. Turns out, the hurricane blew the door off the sliding track, and the top of it hit my plane on the nosewheel. It pushed it back into the hangar and the tail and wingtip were damaged by the wall of the hangar. My plane was down for a month, and it was 6 months before all the repairs were finished. Meanwhile, my neighbor pumped up his tires and was flying the next day.
I could see it reducing the ability of the aircraft to roll (if it breaks loose?).
Prepper mindset, stack the deck in your favor within your own means. Seemed to work for @Nihon_Ni s neighbor.
 
What were they asking for it?
I didn’t ask when they told me it was flipped on it’s back. I got bit in the buttox on my latest project. My wings came in at double the price AND my school is so dang busy I can’t sell the plane.
 
I'm guessing the theory would be less inflated tires would have more give on the way down (less bounce) should the airplane have gotten at all airborne. Basically trying anything to take stress away from other parts of the airframe.
 
My guess is that by letting air out of the tires you’re making the whole assembly more rigid and that much less chance to move around.
 
Maybe the neighbor was an ex car thief and if he saw a car with flat tires he'd move along to one with all four inflated, what's good for the goose...
 
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