1. Type: nose gear (tricycle), tail gear, bicycle, ...

2. Retractablity: Fixed (faired, or un-faired), or retractable, partially retractable

3. Height

4. Wheel base

5. Wheel track

6. The distance between main gear and aircraft cg

7. Strut diameter

8. Tire sizing: diameter, width, pressure

9. Landing gear compartment if retracted

10. Load on each strut

Primary functions of a landing gear:

1. Keep the aircraft stable on the ground and during loading, unloading, and taxi

2. Allow the aircraft to freely move and maneuver during taxing

3. Provide a safe distance between other aircraft components such as wing and fuselage
while the aircraft is on the ground position to prevent any damage by the ground contact

4. Absorb the landing shocks during landing operation

5. Facilitate take-off by allowing aircraft acceleration and rotation with the lowest friction
Design considerations

• Maximum strength

• Minimum weight

• High reliability

• Overall aircraft integration

• Low cost

• Airfield compatibility

• Landing Gear should locate near the center gravity (CG) of the plane
• CG location are depended on aircraft configuration, loading, fuel state.
Landing Gear

Failure

Airbus A320’s
Landing Gear
failure in 2005
Landing Gear Developments

Noise Reduction

- As engines become quieter, landing gear is now making a dominating

component of noise in large commercial aircraft,
- European co-financed research project Silencer is trying to create low noise
landing gear design,
- Desires 10db reduction in landing gear noise by 2020, has only dropped 3db
so far.

Gear up landing prevention system

- NTSB reports that the majority of gear up landings are due to equipment
malfunctions.
- Gear up landing prevention systems will disengage autopilot and alarm at a
preset safety altitude if every piece of landing gear is not extended and
locked.
- It can be disengaged if a belly landing is the only option.
A10 belly Landing, 25 March 2008(2008-03-25)
Materials

- Composites will be integrated into gear because they are stronger and
cheaper than the current used high strength steels and titanium

- Ultra-High Tensile Steels are already being integrated into the A400M and
the B-787 landing gear, replacing the low-alloy steels.

- Research into organic matrix composites and metal matrix composites

using titanium are promising, though still very expensive.

Corrosion

- Many modern aircraft have cadmium in the landing gear to prevent

corrosion and chrome plating to reduce friction wear.

- Advancements in stainless steels and titanium will replace the cadmium in

landing gear.
Three common types of landing gear
Single Main : Sailplanes
Tail Dragger :

 Two main wheels forward of the c.g., called conventional,

 more propeller clearance,
 less drag and weight,
 allows the wing to generate more lift for rough field operations
 unstable on the ground
Quadricycle:

 Cargo airplanes,

 Cargo floor very close to runway

 B-47 Stratojet

Bicycle: Narrow fuselage and wide wing span

Tricycle:

Most common today, c.g. ahead of the main wheels:

 stable on the ground

 can be landed at a fairly large crab

(nose not aligned with the runway)

 improved forward visibility,

 flat cabin floor

Multi-bogey:

 Heavy aircraft,
 more wheels at each location,

Examples:

twin nose wheels (for safety) and

multiple main wheels,

tandem wheels  attached to a “bogey”

 W < 50,000 lb  single main wheel per strut (for safety use two wheels per strut)

 50,000 lb < W < 150,000 lb  two wheels per strut,

 200,000 lb < W < 400,000 lb  four wheel bogey,

 W > 400,000 lb  four bogeys each with 4 or 6 wheels.

 c.g should be aft of the midpoint between the two wheels
 Tip-back angle:
maximum aircraft
nose-up attitude with
the tail touching the
ground and the strut
fully extended.

The angle off the vertical from the main wheel position to the c.g. should be
greater than the tip-back angle or 150, whichever is larger.
If nose wheel is carrying less
than 5 % of the aircraft’s weight
there will not be enough nose
wheel traction to steer the
aircraft.

8-15 % of the aircraft’s weight should be carried by the nose wheel for the most
aft and most forward c.g. positions.
Overturn angle: is a measure of the aircraft’s tendency to overturn when taxied
around a sharp corner. Measured as the angle from the c.g. to the main wheel,
seen from the rear at a location where the main wheel is aligned with the nose
wheel. Should be no greater than 630. (540 for carrier based aircraft)
Aircraft Turning Radii

90° turn on runway entry

 : nose gear steering angle

the minimum turning diameter, i.e., twice

of the 180-degree turn radius, should be
less than the corresponding runway
pavement width.
TIRE SIZING:
 W

Dynamic Braking Load : The additional braking load on the nose tires under a 10 fps
breaking deceleration.

The last equation assumes a braking coefficient of  = 0.3 (hard runway)

results in deceleration by 10 fps.

Ww : load per tire (wheel) , used for tire selection, obtained by dividing the
above loads by number of nose or main tires.

Nose gear should not carry too much or too little of the load.

Ma Mf
 0.05 0.08 preferred  0.20 0.15 preferred
b b

For FAR 25 add 7 % margin

Common to add 25 % for later growth of the aircraft’s design.

For tire data see Table 11.2.

Tire selection: Find the smallest tire that will carry the calculated
maximum loads.
WW : Weight carried by tire
P : Inflation pressure
Ap : contact area with the pavement (footprint area)
w : tire width
d : tire diameter
Rr : rolling radius
Low internal pressure  increased life

Operating at half of the maximum load  6 times more landings.

But 

Larger tire  more drag

 more weight
 bigger wheel size
Tire sizing by braking requirements:

Aircraft brakes are like automotive disk brakes.

Wheel rim diameter  about 50 % of the total diameter (see Table 11.2)

For emergency landing after Take Off Wlanding = 80 –100 % of WT.O.

Kinetic Energy  Heat

The amount of heat a brake can tolerate depends on its size.

Take wheel rim diameter from Fig. 11.7

SHOCK ABSORBERS

Shock-Absorber Types
Rigid axle : relying solely upon the tires
for shock absorbing

Rigid axle with some vertical movement:

The axle attached to the aircraft with
strong rubber cords (bungees). World
War 1 fighters.

Solid Spring: Used in general aviation

aircraft (some Cessna products, etc.)
simple, slightly heavier than other types
of gear. There is some lateral motion
(not only up and down) which wears the
tires.

Levered Bungee: Early light aircraft.

Causes lateral scrubbing of the tires.
Light in weight, high in drag.

Oleopneumatic shock strut or “oleo” :

most common today
Stroke Determination:

Stroke : The required deflection of the shock absorbing system.

Depends upon:

 the vertical velocity at touch down,

 the shock-absorbing material,

 the amount of wing lift still available after touch-down.

Rule-of-thumb :

Stroke in inches  vertical velocity at touchdown.

Most aircraft require 10 ft/sec vertical velocity (sink speed) capability.

Although, 4-5 ft/sec is considered as bad landing by passengers.

15 ft/sec : STOL

 20 ft/sec : carrier based aircraft (controlled crash).

 ST : Stroke of a tire = half the diameter - rolling radius

Ngear : vertical deceleration rate (gear load factor).

Shock absorber stroke:

Oleo Sizing:

Static position:

 66 % of the distance from the fully extended to fully compressed position for
most aircraft (see Fig. 11.9)
 84 % of stroke above the fully extended position for large transport aircraft
 60 % of stroke above the fully extended position for general-aviation aircraft

Total length of the oleo  2.5 times the stroke

Internal Diameter of oleo from

Force = Pressure * Area

External Diameter 30 % greater :

Note: Typically P  1800 psi.

Solid Spring Gear Sizing:
I : Beam’s moment of inertia

E : Material modulus of elasticity (psi)

 30 million for steel

 10 million for aluminum

For a rectangular cross section

Static deflection is also determined

from Eq. 11.18, but, for the static load Fs.

Castoring - Wheel Geometry:

Nose or tail wheel is capable of being castored (turned).

Static and Dynamic stability problems causing “wheel shimmy”, a rapid side to
side motion of the wheel that can tear the landing gear off the airplane.

Shimmy can be prevented by the selection of the rake angle and trail.

In some cases a frictional shimmy damper is also used.

For free swivel :

Use a negative rake angle of 4-6 deg. and a trail equal to 0.2-1.2 times the tire radius

(0.2 typical for tail wheels).

If nose wheel is free to swivel, aircraft is steered on the ground by using the brakes.

For a large aircraft with a steerable nose wheel, the rake angle should be about 7
deg. positive, and the trail should be at least 16 % of the tire radius.

For smaller aircraft, rake angles up to 15 deg and trails of about 20 % of the tire
radius are used.
Gear Retraction Geometry:
Landing Gear Retraction
The landing gear is attached to the aircraft at the “pivot point”. The pivot point
can lie anywhere along the perpendicular bisector to the line connecting the up
and down positions of the wheel.

The height ot the V is called the “deadrise” V : stall speed in mph.

The angle is the deadrise angle.
Deadrise angel must be increased for higher laanding speeds.
Deadrise angle is increased toward the nose to about 30-40 deg to better cut
through waves.
SUBSYSTEMS
Hydraulics

Electrical System:

Pneumatic System:

Auxiliary/Emergency Power:

For large or high speed aircraft flight control is completely depend upon
hydraulic system. An engine flame out will cause an immediate loss of control.
Avionics
 Landing Gear Arrangement
1. Single main gear
Pros
• Simplicity: this the reason why it is used in many sailplanes. The wheel can be
either forward of the cg or aft of the cg. In the latter case a skid is required
under the cockpit.
2. Bicycle gear: 2 main wheels, fore & aft of the c.g.
small outrigger wheels required on the wings to prevent the ac from tipping sideways

Pros
• Can be used on ac w. narrow fuselage (B-47, U-2).
Cons
• Aft wheel is so far behind the c.g. that the ac must takeoff and land in a flat attitude
(cannot rotate). This limits the use of this type of LG to ac w. high L at low aoa (high AR
wings w. large camber and / or flaps).
U-2
3. Tailwheel (taildragger)

Pros
• Tailwheel is small, light, and simple to design.
• AC lands in a flat attitude, hence the D is low.
• Easy attachment of the main LG on the wing.
• Good for rough field operation (allows the wing to generate more L and get off the ground
sooner).
• A 3-point LND can be made by stalling the ac. The resulting D is desirable when airfield is
unsuitable for full brake application.
• When brakes are applied, the vertical load on the main LG increases, reducing the risk of
skidding.
• Provides greater clearance for a front propeller or wing LE-mounted props.

Lockheed Electra
Cons

• Inherently unstable:
– Violent braking will tip the ac to its nose.
– Braking force acts ahead of the cg and has a destabilizing effect when the ac is
moving at an angle of yaw. This may cause a ground loop (ac drags wingtip,
collapses the LG, or turns off the side of the runway)
• In a 2-point LND a tail-down PM generated by the impact force on the LG, increases L
and causes bouncing.
• Difficult to taxi in strong winds due to the high wing incidence.
• Inclined cabin floor is uncomfortable for passengers and inconvenient for loading.
• Reduced pilot visibility over the nose during taxiing.
• High D during the initial TO run until the tail can be raised.
Beech Staggerwing
4. Tricycle Landing Gear (Nosewheel)

Pros
• Inherently stable: braking force acts behind the c.g. so it is stabilizing, allowing full
use of brakes. AC can be landed w. large “crab” angle in a crosswind.
• Fuselage is level when the ac is on the ground.
• The pilot has good view while taxiing.
• Nosewheel protects the ac (especially the propellers) from turning over.
• Low D during the initial phase of TO.
• In a 2-point LND the LG generates a nose-down PM.

C-182
Cons
• Nosewheel tends to be heavy because it must take 20-30% of the W under steady
braked conditions.
• Special structural provisions are generally required to accommodate the LG.
• Difficult to find storage space for the nose gear in light ac.
Note: Nosewheel must not be placed too far forward. If it bears less than 8% of the W the
ac cannot be steered!

F-14
5. Tandem Undercarriage (Quadricycle)

Pros
• The main legs are placed at nearly equal distances ahead and behind the c.g. Thus,
there is locally a space for placing PL close to the c.g.
• The wheels are retracted inside the fuselage w/o interrupting the wing structure.
• Allows the cargo floor to be very low, close to the ground.

B-52
Cons

• Outrigger wheels are necessary to balance the ac, resulting in 1% W increase.

– Solution: Use 2 pairs of main wheels to get some track, so that outriggers do not take
much W (B-52)
• Pilot must carefully maintain proper touchdown attitude to avoid overstraining the LG.
• Large tail-down PM is necessary to rotate the ac.
– Solution: Design ac attitude (wing incidence) to fly off by itself (i.e. w/o the need to
rotate)
• Requires flat TO and LND attitude.
– Solution: swivel wheels.