Landing Gear Explained – How Do They Work?

Aircraft and spaceships are one of mankind’s most impressive inventions, but even these sky beasts need to come down sometime! There are many moving parts to any plane or aircraft, all working together to keep it afloat and bring it down. If you know anything about planes, you may have heard about landing gear and how important it is. 

 

To land safely and securely, these flying crafts use landing gear to descend back to Earth. Whether you’re an avid aircraft fan or you’re looking to learn more about landing planes, you’re in luck! Here’s everything you need to know about landing gear and how it works to make sure that you’re all up to date! Read on and get ready to take flight and land like a pro!

 

What is landing gear?

To kick things off, it’s important to understand what exactly landing gear is and isn’t before understanding how it works. When an aircraft or spaceship needs to land, there’s a lot of weight and force that needs to be accounted for. The landing gear is the components of an aircraft or spacecraft made to support its weight and give it mobility. These components stabilize the craft on the ground or water, absorb the force, and make it as smooth a landing as possible. 

 

Because of what it’s designed to do, the landing gear is very complicated, and it’s tricky and expensive to fix. Whether you need an Airbus A380 or a Boeing 737 Landing Gear Overhaul Service, finding the right person for the job is key. Whether you’re fixing landing gear or using it, you need to know how it works first! Read on to learn how these essential components help to bring aircraft back home! 

 

How does it work

To understand how landing gear works, you first need to understand exactly what is being absorbed when landing. An aircraft of any size is heavy, and as it lands, it’s going at incredible speeds. This translates into kinetic energy that the landing gear, in all its parts, absorbs when the craft comes into contact with the runway or a body of water. 

 

This energy can be absorbed and re-distributed through a few different components to land the aircraft safely. To keep things simple, the main aspects of landing gear that you need to know about are the components that absorb shock and that brake. 

 

Absorbing shock

The trickiest, and most dangerous part about landing a plane or spaceship is making it through the initial shockwave. As an aircraft lands, the first thing the landing gear needs to do is brace the aircraft for shock. The first line of defense for this is the wheels, which absorb the initial shock of the landing, with the nose wheel doing the bulk of the work. 

 

The nose wheel aside from its rubber components, has a hydraulic cylinder which acts as the main shock absorber as the aircraft touches down. Because there’s so much force at play, the nose wheel needs to have a torque link and an anti-shimmy mechanism to make sure that it doesn’t giggle about, on impact. With the nose wheel stabilized, the aircraft can start braking to slow down. 

 

Brake system

Whether you’re flying a helicopter, driving a car, or riding a bike, you need to have a brake system to be able to stop. Once the aircraft has touched down, the next thing the landing gear needs to do is slow it down until it comes to a complete stop. Every aircraft has a built-in brake system, but the type it uses depends on the kind of landing. But whether the landing is happening on land or in water, the general idea is the same. 

 

Most aircraft will have spoilers on the wings which can engage to create more friction to slow the plane down both in the air and on the ground. Whether the brake system is locking the wheels in place or putting up windbreakers, its goal is to slow down the aircraft until it stops. 

 

 

So there you have it! Now that you’re all caught up on all things landing gear, you can really appreciate the marvel of air travel! To get these huge aircraft out of the sky and onto the ground safely, they need to have working landing gear. Landing gear helps to land and slow down the aircraft efficiently and with minimal damage through two main mechanisms. 

 

By absorbing the shock of the impact and slowing it down, landing gear helps bring planes and spaceships back to earth safe and sound. Whether you’re in the market for a new aircraft or you want to start flying them, keep this guide in mind when landing! Good luck, and safe flying and landing!