What is the purpose of the extra wheel on the XB-70 main gear?

Question

This photo of the XB-70 Valkyrie's main gear shows a small wheel between the two main wheels:

This smaller wheel doesn't touch the ground, though I can see where it might as the side walls of the main tires compress under landing weight.

The AirPigz site promised an explanation, but none has been forthcoming (in the 4+ years since that was posted), and I couldn't find any information on it on Wikipedia, either. Does anyone have any information (real or speculative) on what it's for?

Ha! I spotted that on the video that was posted the other day, but was too lazy to ask. Thanks! — Jörg W Mittag, Apr 26 '16 at 00:58

score 75 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 26 '16 at 17:17

75

It is a sensing wheel that is part of the antiskid braking system. It contains an electronic sensor to measure the true groundspeed of the airplane. See NASA Technical Note D-4836, Landing Loads and Accelerations of the XB-70-1 Airplane (1968), bottom of page 3 of the document (page 5 on the PDF):

edited Apr 26 '16 at 17:17

E.P.

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answered Apr 25 '16 at 16:42

Fred Larson

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Wow! A quick and authoritative answer! Did you know this or is your Google-fu that good? – FreeMan Apr 25 '16 at 16:54
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Call it a lucky Google. – Fred Larson Apr 25 '16 at 16:56
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Nice "lucky Google", then Fred! I'm sure I could have done the same, but it's good to have information gathered here on what's quickly become my favorite web-site. Thanks for the image embed, @mikeSowsun – FreeMan Apr 25 '16 at 17:31

What is the purpose of the extra wheel on the XB-70 main gear?

1 Answers1