Tricycle Undercarriage Design: An Analysis of the Inertia Loading Actions for the Modern Landing Gear

Abstract

THE General Problem.—The inertia loading of a tricycle undercarriage presents a problem of considerable difficulty to designers. The type of tricycle under consideration has a pair of wheels not far behind the centre of gravity and a single wheel a considerable distance in front. Although such an undercarriage has special characteristics not possessed by an orthodox undercarriage with two main wheels, it has the same essential duties to perform: namely to absorb the kinetic energy associated with velocity of descent and to transmit the vertical retarding forces which reduce this velocity to zero. For these purposes, however, it has in the front and rear wheel units two distinct and in many ways independent shock‐absorbing systems, and the special problem is to assess the contributions made by each.

Citation

Walker, P.B. (1940), "Tricycle Undercarriage Design: An Analysis of the Inertia Loading Actions for the Modern Landing Gear", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 171-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb030652