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Gearing Up and Ready to Roll
What have the Airbus A380 superjumbo, order-scooping Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner, fat and friendly A400M Eurofreighter, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Russian Regional Jet got in common? Answer: Messier-Dowty undercarriages and systems.
For the A380, Messier-Dowty has produced its largest ever nose landing gear for Airbus. It stands 4.8 meters tall when fully extended. The first one was delivered to Airbus UK at Filton in January, prior to installing in the full-size Airbus undercarriage test rig at the site.
On Boeing's Dreamliner, Messier-Dowty has scooped the main and nosewheel contracts for its first-ever Boeing win. On A400M freighter it has won the main landing gear contract, as it has on the RRJ and all production Eurofighter Typhoons.
Each one of Messier-Dowty's business centers has captured a major new aircraft program undercarriage system since last year's Paris Air Show.
Messier-Dowty's new managing director, Grant Skinner, told Show News, "Our selection for the 7E7 landing gear is the company's first prime contract with Boeing for a commercial aircraft, and is the culmination of some 12 years of teamwork, working closely with Boeing in support of their product development studies. The 7E7 program is different to previous commercial bids with Boeing in that Messier-Dowty will be responsible for the design, in addition to the manufacture of the gear." He explained further that his company offered several optional features to Boeing, based on new materials, environment, low cost and low weight. "We are now working with Boeing to define the configuration that best works for the 7E7."
The 7E7 main landing gear baseline arrangement is for a four-wheel truck/tripod, with oleo-pneumatic shock strut and dual folding and rolling braces. The nose landing gear baseline is a forwards-retracting cantilever gear with push-pull steering. At Farnborough visitors will have an opportunity to see a full-size 7E7 undercarriage mockup on the Messier-Dowty stand B10 in Hall 4.
On the military side, the company will supply the A400M's main landing gear, which is being designed to meet the demands of soft-field and unprepared runway landings. This landing gear also incorporates a kneeling/raising capability to facilitate the loading of large vehicles. The mockup on Messier-Dowty's stand shows an A400M main leg as conceived during the IPT phase with EADS CASA. As a program partner, Messier-Dowty is responsible for design management, development, qualification, manufacture, integration and support of the A400M landing gear system.
The company is also showing here two fully integrated main and nosewheel landing gear systems for corporate jets, which are aboard the Bombardier Challenger 300 and the Hawker Horizon.
—Mike Vines
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