Story ID: 
S. African school aids  Goodyear tire testing
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Goodyear Tire and Rubber grabbed some traction in the aviation tire business with a series of contracts signed just before this year’s show.
Word Count: 276
Goodyear Tire and Rubber grabbed some traction in the aviation tire business with a series of contracts signed just before this year’s show. Most recently, it chose its second aviation tire evaluation center, the 43 Air School in Port Alfred, South Africa. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serves as Goodyear’s other evaluation center.

The company plans to use the South African school, which flies 40 registered aircraft, to test tires on aircraft built and flown in the southern hemisphere. Goodyear continues its search for other flight training schools to add to its testing capacity. 

Other recent aviation-related activity for Goodyear involved its renewal of a tire contract with the Civil Air Patrol, the all-volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Under the deal, Goodrich will supply tires to each of the patrol’s 52 units, which include all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The Civil Air Patrol flies a fleet of 550 single-engine aircraft for search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief and humanitarian missions. 

Last month, Goodyear also extended a major contract to supply tires to Airbus for six different models. Under the deal, Dutch affiliate Goodyear Nederland will continue to supply its Flight Leader tires for A300 and A310. It will also supply Radial and Flight Leader tires for the A318, A319, A320 and A321.   

Goodyear produces the tires at plants in Danville, Virginia, and Bangkok, Thailand. It also retreads aviation tires at its service centers in Tilburg, Netherlands; São Paulo, Brazil; Stockbridge, Georgia; Kingman, Arizona; Melbourne, Australia; and Bangkok.