Why Airplanes don’t rotate wheels before landing to reduce the effect of friction?

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I used to watch a lot of airplane landings and take-off. My favourite moment is when airplane tyres touch the ground. Friction produces a lot of heat and hence, smoke.
But i wonder, why not pilot start rotating wheels before landing and match the speed of wheels such that it doesn’t cause any friction.

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22 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

As others have said the motors required would add extra weight, however there would also be no benefit. When landing you’re trying to get rid of energy. Brakes and reverse thrust are the most obvious ways of doing this, but the friction of the tyres, the energy of the wheels spinning up and the impact on to the runway absorbed by the suspension all take energy away from the forward momentum slowing the aircraft

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