Out-of-sphericity is degree of deformation of an air bearing sphere deviated from a perfect sphere. This paper investigates numerically the effect of out-of-sphericity error on the radial stiffness of an air bearing Three types of out-of-sphericity modes are considered. in this study the stiffness is calculated from pressure distribution at the bearing surface which is obtained by solving th Reynolds equation. in some cases large out-of-sphericity errors are found to improve the stiffnesses of air bearings. This implies that an air bearing of perfect hemispheres is not necessarily of the best performance. Thus much labor and cost in manufacturing air bearings can be saved, In addition the radial stiffness of an air bearing depends greatly on the application direction.