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Types of Landing Gear

The landing gear of a plane consists of parts found under a plane's fuselage that allow the plane to land safely. There have been many versions of landing gear since the advent of commercial flying. The earliest landing gear simply consisted of skids, but wheels were later attached to the skids. Today, there are more efficient types of landing gear. In order to perform well and serve its purpose, landing gear must be capable of absorbing the force of the landing plus the airplane's weight.

Tricycle Landing Gear
- An example of tricycle landing gear
  
  This type of landing gear is structured like a tricycle, with one nose wheel in the front and two wheels located midway on the fuselage. The nose gear is steerable by using the rudder pedals. This type of landing gear is advantageous in many ways: it allows the pilot to apply the brakes more forcefully without making the plane nose over, offers better stability because the rear wheels are close to the center of gravity and permits better visibility for the pilot during takeoff, landing and taxiing. The majority of modern aircraft are fitted with tricycle landing gear.
Tailwheel Landing Gear
- An example of tail-wheel landing gear
  
  This type of landing gear is often used on many small piston-engine planes. It consists of two main gear units located near the center of gravity and a tail unit located at the rear of the fuselage. Because the plane appears to drag its tail onto the runway upon landing, this type of landing gear is also known as ''taildragger gear.' Because the plane's center of gravity is located behind the main gear, it may be more difficult to have directional control. For this reason, specific training is required for using aircraft equipped with tail-wheel landing gear.
Other Types of Landing Gear
- The heavier the plane, the more wheels are needed to distribute weight evenly.
  
  Bicycle gear can be found on large bombers with slender fuselage and wide wingspan like the B-47. It consists of two main gear along the center line of the plane and two small gear mounted along the wing to prevent the plane from tilting over sideways. Quadricycle landing gear resembles bicycle gear, but has four main gear mounted along the fuselage. Finally, multi-bogey gear features multiple wheels on the same gear unit. This helps spread the plane's weight evenly on the runway. This type of landing gear is seen in Antonov An-225 and Boeing 747 aircraft.

Aviation