Landing Gear

Abstract

INCORPORATING many kinds of engineering in its design and construction, modern landing gear has advanced to the stage in which almost any aircraft can be supplied with a retractable configuration which can be stowed in a space which is often limited by aerodynamic and structural constraints. Because of the ever increasing demands made upon them, landing gears have become more and more sophisticated and until relatively recently have caused a constantly increasing single wheel load to be a dominant factor. The main gear tyres of the DC‐3 were inflated to 50 pounds per square inch (psi) in 1938 and by 1972 tyres of a typical wide‐body aircraft had to be at 185 psi. Since aircraft weights have increased so much, it follows that pavement stresses have also increased, sometimes to a critical level. The maximum single wheel loads on new aircraft are accordingly about 50,000 lb which means that multiple wheels are necessary to keep pavment stresses at acceptable levels.

Citation

(1986), "Landing Gear", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 58 No. 7, pp. 3-6. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb036310