The wheels of an airplane. Sometimes replaced by floats or skis.
Questions tagged [landing-gear]
271 questions
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Can the landing gear be pulled up while the plane is on the ground?
If a pilot makes a mistake and inadvertently touches the gear up lever, will it actually activate while on the ground and make the plane drop onto its belly?
I suppose that there would be some sensor to prevent this, but I would like clarification…
Fabrizio Mazzoni
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Why do airplanes have to retract landing gear?
Why do all the airplanes have to retract their landing gear, once they reach some specific height? Why can't they simply leave their landing gear deployed all through the flight?
anshabhi
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What causes an airplane to rhythmically bounce during taxiing?
Some time ago, I was on a commercial flight and while the airplane was taxiing around, there was this rhythmic bouncing. Here is a video I made of the takeoff. You can notice the bouncing at the taxi and takeoff roll of the video. What causes that…
SMS von der Tann
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How are skis stowed on retractable gear aircraft?
This image of a LC-130 taking off from a snow runway shows that in addition to wheels on the landing gear, it's also been equipped with skis.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.We're getting a lot of use out of this image lately!
How do these skis get stowed…
FreeMan
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What is the cause of the noise heard when the landing gear is deployed?
Why is it that on most airliners, when the landing gear gets deployed, you always hear a loud noise like a bang. Is this due to the equipment locking in place or is there some other reason? As an external person I would think that there should be a…
Fabrizio Mazzoni
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Why does landing gear retract with an offset?
I've noticed this often in flight simulators, and have, to be honest, never paid attention to it in real life, though I'm quite sure it happens there too:
When landing gear retracts (and I believe when it extends as well) the two main landing gears…
Maverick283
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Is the landing gear controlled by the pilot or is it automatic?
I have been watching a few aircraft landing videos in crosswind situations and I noticed that if the airliner missed the runway the landing gear would go back into the aircraft. So I'm wondering if this system is automatic after a takeoff or if it's…
Ethan
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How do airliners prevent raising the gear on the ground?
GA aircraft use a squat switch to prevent accidental retraction on the ground. Do airliners use a similar system? I've heard some reference to a manual pin, I'd appreciate clarification on that.
Ben
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Would adding a fairing to landing gear to spin the tires before landing yield enough benefits?
I was reading answers to this question: How long do airliner tires last? Can this be improved? and it seems to be reasonable to keep things simple and rethread tires instead of designing motors to spin them up.
However, what if one was to implement…
Alexus
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How does the squat switch work?
This question came up after reading the following comments on the answer to this question: Raising the flaps right after touchdown. Good or bad?
Philippe Leybaert Jan 20 at 23:00
The retractable landing gear is an excellent point. It makes perfect
…
TesterMen Tester
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Are tracked landing gear systems still in use and development?
In the 1940's and 1950's, there were several tracked landing gear systems developed for the purpose of allowing landing on soft ground and/or using particularly heavy aircraft such as the B-36.
Are any such systems still in use and/or…
Dronz
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What is the height of the Boeing 747-8 landing gear?
I can never find any information about the height of the landing gear on any airliner(can you put it into feet and inches).And Is the height of the 747-8 landing gear around the same height as the 737 or airbus a320.
Ethan
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What are the design disadvantages of a monowheel landing gear setup which might have led to its historic rejection?
Monowheels have a lot to be said for them, which is why we use them in gliders. They save weight, drag, and cost, are tolerant of tire failures, and frequently handle outlandings with aplomb.
However, they have not proven to be popular outside of…
Kenn Sebesta
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Is the KC-135 landing gear life limited?
I'm looking for information about the KC-135 landing gear. Specifically I want to know if its life limited and if so where is it documented? If its NOT life limited where is that documented? I'm talking about gear that has regularly been maintained…
Jeff
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What is the difference between a 'live' NLG axle and a 'fixed' NLG axle?
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a live and fixed nose landing gear axle and how do they work? Maybe certain aircraft need a particular type fitted?
I can't see the need of a moving axle (assuming that's what 'live' means) unless it is…
Jono
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