TABLE OF CONTENTS The landing gear has been described as "the essential intermediary between the aeroplane and catastrophe" (Ref. [1], p. 323). In support of this definition, landing gear design is considered to include the following items:
Forward and aft landing gears.
Tail bumpers.
Wing tip (or outer wing) gears.
Arresting hooks.
Jacking, mooring, and towing attachments.
Landing gear doors and their operating equipment.
Holdback installations.
Electrical and hydraulic equipment up to the interface point with airframe-mounted equipment.
Layouts to show ground clearances at various aircraft attitudes and with varying degrees of strut/tire inflation.
Layouts to show catapulting and arresting attitudes.
Calculations to show compatibility with airfield surfaces (sometimes accomplished by special groups).
[1]Conway, H. G., Landing Gear Design, Chapman & Hall, London, 1958.
Like the aircraft itself, the first concepts of a landing gear are usually prepared long before the establishment of a formal contract. Marketing organizations determine that there is a need for a new or modified aircraft. This may be the result of market surveys, discussions with potential customers, or close attention to deliberations being made by various airlines or military organizations. The marketing and preliminary design departments then cross-pollinate their thoughts, establish what they consider to be the basic requirements, and begin to prepare basic concepts.
From this point onward, it may be weeks, months, or even several years before a Request for Proposal (RFP), or its commercial equivalent, is issued by the customer; the...
