Aquaplaning on track

[autobackup]

Alec

You are so entirely right - ANY vehicle wearing any tyres with any tread pattern (good, bad or indifferent) will happily aquaplane, often at surprisingly low speeds, given suitable wet/adverse road/track conditions!

[Antong]

Some sobering stories, whilst these things are effective their own roll cages they aren't at all well padded!

Going back to the original post, I've always found wet grip at airfield days to be very poor, great for showboating, not for leaning on the last ounce of grip. for those in the aviation sector, is my assumption that the runway has got good grippy tarmac but the taxiways are death slides a realistic one?

[autobackup]

Antong

Some runways are better than others but the main benefit is that there aren't any bends!

Aircraft also have other methods of control (keeping straight) - aerodynamic (rudder, ailerons & airbrakes) plus differential braking and reverse thrust (which can also be applied differentially/assymetrically).

Conservation of energy and the tricycle undercarriage also helps to keep the aircraft running straight down the runway - even if actually aquaplaning - but if there's also a strong crosswind things can get extremely tricky very fast - but a strong crosswind often has the beneficial effect of helping to blow any standing water off the side of the runway at 90°

Taxiways are generally not a problem as they can be negotiated as slowly as needed BUT when taxying on compacted ice/snow a very strong wind can literally 'blow' an aircraft sideways off the taxiway!!

[Andy G]

Atoms in the wet on track are difficult to drive but also massive fun if you are happy with the car sliding about.

Trickier to drive than your Lotus.

Ironically I bought another set of wheels for my 4 for wets, and typically it hasnt rained once.....