초록 ▼

A body-braced main landing gear assembly for a commercial airplane includes a set of landing wheels journalled to a shock absorber strut. The shock strut and wheels are swingably attached to the underside of the wing structure by a trunion shaft for lateral as well as fore and aft swinging movement

A body-braced main landing gear assembly for a commercial airplane includes a set of landing wheels journalled to a shock absorber strut. The shock strut and wheels are swingably attached to the underside of the wing structure by a trunion shaft for lateral as well as fore and aft swinging movement between an extended position wherein the wheels depend downwardly from the wing for taxiing and landing of the airplane and a retracted position wherein the wheels and shock strut are swung inwardly and upwardly into a wheel bay in the airplane fuselage. The shock strut is braced in the extended position by a foldable drag strut and a rigid radius brace. The foldable drag strut is attached at one end to the shock strut and is attached at its opposite end to the fuselage body at a point inward and forward of the trunion shaft. The radius brace is attached at one end to the shock strut and is attached at its opposite end to a point on the fuselage body inward and rearward of the trunion shaft. The body-braced main landing gear assembly permits the landing wheels to be positiond farther aft and farther outboard than normal, resulting in improved airplane ground stability and ground flotation and also in improved airplane aerodynamic performance during flight. The improvement in load path geometry enables a substantial reduction to be made in airplane wing and aft body weights.

대표청구항 ▼

A main landing gear assembly for an airplane having a fuselage boy and a wing, comprising: a shock strut having a first end and a second end and wheel means journalled to said second end of said shock strut, said first end of said shock strut being pivotably and universally attached to said wing of

A main landing gear assembly for an airplane having a fuselage boy and a wing, comprising: a shock strut having a first end and a second end and wheel means journalled to said second end of said shock strut, said first end of said shock strut being pivotably and universally attached to said wing of said airplane for universal pivotal movement of said shock strut and said wheel means between a downwardly depending, extended position for taxiing and landing of said airplane and a retracted position; a foldable drag strut having first and second ends, said first end of said drag strut being pivotably and universally attached to said shock strut at a first position on said shock strut intermediate said first and second ends of said shock strut, said second end of said drag strut being pivotably and universally attached to a first fixed point of said fuselage body, said first fixed point of said fuselage body being inward and forward of said first end of said shock strut, and releasable locking means for maintaining said drag strut in a nonfolded, aligned configuration with said shock strut in said extended position; and, a rigid radius brace having first and second ends, said first end of said radius brace being pivotably and universally connected to said shock strut at a second position on said shock strut intermediate said first and second ends of said shock strut, said second end of said radius brace being pivotably and universally connected to a second fixed point of said fuselage body, said second fixed point of said fuselage body being inward and rearward of said first end of said shock strut such that said rigid radius brace constrains said shock strut to extend and retract along a predetermined skewed travel path in an inward, upward and forward movement during retraction and a corresponding outward, downward and rearward movement during extension, and whereby said rigid radius brace and said foldable drag strut operate to bear a major portion of drag loads imposed on the extended landing gear assembly.