Adaptive Landing Gear for Improved Taxi Performance.

Abstract : Taxi performance in terms of airplane CG acceleration for the KC-135, T-43A, and YC-14 type main gear are calculated with a digital simulation. Simple landing gear oleo modifications, such as bypass orifices and dual stage air chambers, are proposed and evaluated and reduce CG (RMS) acceleration by as much as 47%. Improved taxi performance also results in reduced gear loads when bomb crater repair patches are encountered with the KC-135 and YC-14 type gear. Fatigue damage due to taxi on austere fields decreases by 6% or more. However, fatigue damage due to taxi on prepared fields is not affected by the proposed oleo modification. (Author)