Aircraft recovery dolly

A wheel dolly for temporarily lifting and transporting a flat tire attached to an aircraft, comprising:

• a frame assembly supported above a surface by a plurality of freely rotatable wheel assemblies, the frame assembly comprising;
• first and second frame members coupled together via a first angled frame member fixedly attached at a first angle to a proximal end to the first frame member and a second angled frame member fixedly attached at a second angle to a proximal end to the second frame member, the first angled frame member pivotally coupled at a distal end to a distal end of the second angled frame member;
• a ram having a first end pivotally coupled to the frame assembly proximate the distal ends of the first and second angled frame members and a second end pivotally coupled to the frame assembly proximate the proximal end of the second frame member;
• first and second oppositely opposed tire support assemblies attached to the frame assembly, the first tire support assembly comprising a first tire support structure attached to a first frame member of the frame assembly and a second tire support structure attached to a second frame member of the frame assembly, each tire support assembly facing one other in opposite directions when the wheel dolly is in a tire lifting position, the first tire support assembly comprised of a first plurality of cantilevered support members fixed to the first frame member and extending in a direction toward the second frame member, the second tire support assembly comprised of a second plurality of cantilevered support members fixed to the second frame member and extending toward the first frame member such that when the frame assembly is in the tire lifting position distal ends of the first plurality of cantilevered support members are positioned proximate the distal ends of the second plurality of support members;
• a first pivotable roller assembly pivotally coupled to and between the distal ends of the first plurality of support members;
• and
• a second pivotable roller assembly pivotally coupled to and between the distal ends of the second plurality of support members;
• whereby extension of the ram causes the angle between the first and second angled frame members to decrease and retraction of the ram cause the angle between the first and second angled frame members to increase thereby correspondingly moving the first and second tire support structures toward and away from one another.