If you are looking at this picture and thinking there’s something wrong, you’re right. This airplane has a bald spot, probably from a, shall we say, “sporty”, landing. It happens.

This can’t be good

But this airplane should not be flown until the tire is looked at by an A&P. Spoiler alert: he’s going ground it until the tire is replaced. This is exactly what you are looking for on your pre-flight inspection and of course, something this obvious would be seen immediately, right? Not necessarily.

Tire damage like this can be tricky. If the airplane gets parked on top of this bald patch, it might not be immediately obvious during the walk-around, which is why it is recommended that you roll the airplane back or forward a few inches just to make sure you’re not missing something.

And something that doesn’t get talked about a lot is a POST-flight inspection. It’s always a good idea to take a look after it’s tied down just to see if there is something that needs to be handled before the next flight.

Especially if you suspect you had a “sporty” landing sometime during your flying excursion.