Why is the landing gear on an airplane retractable?
It is often made retractable to minimize the aerodynamic drag on the aircraft while flying. The landing gear design takes into account various requirements of strength, stability, stiffness, ground clearance, control and damping under all possible ground attitudes of the aircraft.
What are the final tests for landing gear?
Note – Final tests of the landing gear are carried out after installation on the aircraft as well as taxi tests, braking and steering tests. Whilst fine tuning of certain design parameters are done during this phase, changes could be very expensive! This is followed by flight testing phase where the full capability of the landing gear is evaluated.
What are the airworthiness regulations for landing gear?
Airworthiness regulations play a crucial role in arriving at the landing gear configuration, such as sink rate, allowable load factors and ground maneuvering conditions, stipulated in the applicable airworthiness regulations. Some of these Airworthiness Regulations are given in Table 1.
How is stress analysis used in landing gear design?
Finite element modeling and analysis and conventional hand calculation methods are used for landing gear stress analysis. Landing gear is designed as a safe life structure and fatigue analysis methods are used for prediction of life.
It is often made retractable to minimize the aerodynamic drag on the aircraft while flying. The landing gear design takes into account various requirements of strength, stability, stiffness, ground clearance, control and damping under all possible ground attitudes of the aircraft.
When is a malfunction of an aircraft should be noticed?
Malfunctions of components should be evident to the operating crew, have no direct adverse effect on safety (whether they occur as a single or multiple event), and minimize the effect on the operation of the aircraft itself.
Why are modern aircraft more tolerant of failures?
Modern aircraft are more tolerant of failures than older aircraft designs because of the increased redundancy provided in the design. Generally, most airlines classify specific component maintenance tasks as follows: lubrication or servicing, where the replenishment of the consumable reduces the rate of functional deterioration;
How much of aircraft damage is friendly foreign object?
These lessons provide evaluation criteria in the application and servicing of new materials and structures. An International Air Transport Association survey estimates that 36–40 percent of damage to aircraft is from ramp and maintenance damage, sometimes called friendly foreign object damage (IATA, 1991).