Understanding Your Undercarriage

With the possible exception of a hot-air balloon, no matter what kind of aircraft you fly—airplane, glider, helicopter or blimp—it has an undercarriage of some sort, used when it’s on the ground. The component(s) actually resting on the ground can be tires, skids, floats or skis, but they’re attached to the airframe via the undercarriage. In turn, the undercarriage can be fixed, retractable or a mix (e.g., the main gear retracts while the tailwheel doesn’t). And just as there are a seemingly endless number of airframe configurations, undercarriages come in many different flavors.

Key Takeaways:

• Aircraft undercarriages are essential for ground operations and come in diverse configurations, including fixed, retractable, or mixed systems utilizing wheels, skids, floats, or skis.
• Two primary land-based designs are conventional (taildragger) and tricycle gear; conventional gear is simpler and lighter but prone to groundloops and poor forward visibility, while tricycle gear offers superior stability and visibility but is heavier and its nosewheel is more fragile.
• Retractable undercarriages provide a speed advantage by reducing drag but introduce greater weight, system complexity, increased maintenance demands, and the risk of gear-up landings compared to fixed-gear systems.

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