Impeller wheel as a drive device for the undercarriage wheels of aircraft

In order to reduce the tyre wear of aircraft undercarriage wheels which is caused by the undercarriage wheels being accelerated to a high speed within a very short time when the landing aircraft touches down on the runway, an impeller wheel is mounted on the rim of each undercarriage wheel such that the air flowing past on the landing aircraft causes the impeller wheel to rotate and, by means of said impeller wheel, causes the corresponding undercarriage wheel to rotate, which rotational movement corresponds to the rotational movement of the undercarriage wheel after the aircraft has touched down on the runway. For improved dissipation of the heat occurring on the undercarriage wheels during braking of the aircraft as it slows down on the runway, the impeller wheel can be produced from a highly thermally conductive material and can be mounted on the rim of the undercarriage wheel by means of an identical connection. For the best possible matching of the rotational speed of the undercarriage wheel before the aircraft touches down on the runway to the rotational speed required on touching down, the unit comprising the "impeller wheel-undercarriage wheel" can be braked by means of the brake which is dedicated to that undercarriage wheel and is controlled via a control unit.