Slowing down 869,000 pounds of massive aircraft from a landing speed of about 150 miles an hour to taxi speed is asking a lot out of a disc brake as it is. Demanding that same heavy aircraft go from 150 miles an hour to zero as quickly as possible is, without question, a torture test. But that’s what is expected from the Airbus A380 line, the world’s only double-decker wide-body jumbo jet airliner. When as many as 869 individuals’ lives are in the hands of two pilots and the braking systems at each of the 22 wheels that support the aircraft on the ground, you want to know well before the first flight that the brakes are up to the task at hand long before the aircraft gets to try the “rejected take-off test” that involves moving an actual aircraft up to takeoff speed before drilling the brakes until the whole thing stops. Brake fires and worse, exploding wheel/tire assemblies, are a real threat to flight crews and ground crews.

In the case of the flying double-decker bus, testing the assembly on the ground was critical, since the Airbus was going into size and weight zones that exceeded the previous flying heavyweight, the Boeing 747. In order to simulate the test, a dynamometer was used to spin the wheel up and to mimic the force of an overweight A380 on landing. This simulated stop brought the wheel to a halt in about 3,675 feet (7/10ths of a mile) and the results speak for themselves. Good thing airport fire crews move quickly!