Tricycle landing gear is the most common landing gear scheme in the current days, it consists in two sets of big wheels under the wings and a small wheel in the nose, unlike conventional landing gear, the small wheel in tricycle can retract.
Advantages[]
- The tricycle layout reduces the possibility of a ground loop, because the main gear lies behind the center of mass
- Tricycle gear aircraft are easier to land because the attitude required to land on the main gear is the same as that required in the flare
- they are less vulnerable to crosswinds
- A tricycle gear offers better visibility on the ground.
- A tricycle gear allows full brake application.
- A tricycle gear makes loading and unloading easier because the fuselage is horizontal.
- A tricycle gear has less drag during the initial stage of a take-off run.
Variants[]
- In some modern commercial aircraft there's a fourth set of wheels in the center between the wing ones.
- Some other aircraft like Tupolev TU-154 don't retract the rear gear under the fuselage, but in special compartiments in the middle of the wings.
- Another light aircraft like Cessna or De Havilland Canada don't retract their landing gear.
Aircraft[]
Commercial Airplanes[]
- Airbus A220
- Airbus A300
- Airbus A310
- Airbus A318
- Airbus A319
- Airbus A320
- Airbus A321
- Airbus A330
- Airbus A340
- Airbus A350
- Airbus A380
- Boeing 707
- Boeing 717
- Boeing 720
- Boeing 727
- Boeing 737
- Boeing 747
- Boeing 757
- Boeing 767
- Boeing 777
- Boeing 787
- Mio M3
- Honda Click 125
Military aircraft[]
- Grumman F-14 Tomcat
- McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
- McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet