Tire Pressure Monitors

September 2021 – My little electric Chevy Bolt displays my tire pressures on the screen and will alert me to out-of-spec tire pressures. I never need to check the actual pressures with a pressure gauge unless they need air. Aircraft, especially with wheel fairings, have much less accessible valve stems, making checking tire pressures difficult, sometimes really difficult.

Having recently read of one rather expensive solution but which seems to have been really well thought-out and engineered, I started to search online for options. I was surprised to learn that, for amateur-built aircraft there is a tire pressure monitoring system priced at $389 USD available from your favourite aircraft parts supplier. It has a hand-held, battery-driven monitor about the size of your cell phone and it also reports tire temperatures, if you need that. One interesting fact is that the battery-operated senders are mounted on the valve stem so no wheel removal is needed to install them. Just make sure that you have adequate clearance in the fairings.

Tire Pressure Monitor

There are also automotive equivalents for as low as $59.99 USD. Has anyone tried this? Your fellow readers would be interested to know. Drop me a line at newsletter.EAACC@gmail.com and we'll be sure to let our readers know. Include a photo or two and a little article about your experience.