Do-Dodonpa

The most unusual aspect of Dodonpa's trains is its tires.  Some older wood coasters use metal tires, but nearly every modern coaster uses metal tires coated in polyurethane.  The ratio of metal to plastic coating varies widely on various trains, and several different types of plastic coatings are used, but this type of wheel is nearly universal on coasters built in the last few decades.

Dodonpa departs from this convention by using pneumatic tires!  Each train is outfitted with 60 aircraft tires.  These air-filled tires help to produce a smooth ride.  Since aircraft tires are designed for high speeds and the punishment of accelerating from a standstill to a very high speed on landing, they are very durable.  In fact, some aviation tires are rated to 190 miles per hour, or 300 kilometers per hour!  Because of the poor weather, I don't have pictures of Dodonpa's tires, but you can see pneumatic tires used on the nearly identical trains of Hypersonic XLC.

©2022 Joel A. Rogers.