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Aircraft Landing-Gear Types

Landing gear is one of the most basic and yet critical components of any aircraft. Essentially, the term landing gear refers to the equipment that provides the connection between the aircraft and the ground that it is landing on or taking off from. While landing gear usually refers to the wheels of an aircraft, it can also refer to landing equipment such as skis and pontoons.

Conventional Landing Gear
- Conventional landing gear is seen more often in older airplanes. It consists of two wheels on the front of the airplane, and one smaller tail wheel. The rear wheel on conventional landing gear can move in any direction. Because the tail of the plane is closer to the ground on this type of airplane, this type of landing gear has earned the nickname of "taildragger." This type of landing gear can be difficult to control. Application of the brakes too soon when landing can cause the plane to pitch forward.
Tricycle Landing Gear
- Tricycle landing gear is the most common type of landing gear seen on modern aircraft. It is a reversal of the pattern that is used in conventional landing gear. There is a singular nose wheel, and then two main wheels further back on the aircraft. The wheels are arranged in the same pattern as a tricycle's wheels, hence the name. Most types of tricycle landing gear retract into the plane. Sometimes the nose gear will have a double rather than a single wheel. The rearward wheels take the brunt of the landing force, so they are attached with struts to the strongest parts of the wings or fuselage. This distributes the force of landing evenly throughout the frame of the aircraft.
Tandem Landing Gear
- Tandem landing gear consists of two sets of two wheels. One set of wheels will be forward, another rearward. This type of landing gear is typically seen on very large planes like the B-52 bomber.
Unconventional Landing Gear
- Conventional landing gear uses wheels to bear the weight of the plane on the ground. Planes use unconventional landing gear when they're not going to be landing on flat ground. They use pontoons to land on water and skis to land on snow.

Aviation