Accelerations in Landing with a Tricycle-Type Landing Gear

Abstract

Verbatim from NASA NTRS. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

In connection with the application of stable tricycle-type landing gears to transport airplanes, the question arises as to whether certain passengers may not experience relatively great accelerations in an emergency landing. Since the main landing wheels are behind the center of gravity in this type of gear, a hard-braked landing will cause immediate nosing down of the airplane and, when this motion is stopped due to the front wheel striking the ground, there will be some tendency for the rearmost passengers to be thrown out of their seats, The provided rough calculations are designed to show the magnitudes of the various reactions experienced in a severe landing under these circumstances.

Author

• Jones, Robert T. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Langley Aeronautical Lab.