Undercarriage arrangements

Last updated

Below are featured the wheeled undercarriage (also called landing gear) arrangements of some modern commercial jet airliners and large military aircraft.

Contents

Types of wheeled units

This table shows the main types of individual, basic wheeled units (single-wheel unit or bogies composed of multiple wheels) used on most aircraft undercarriages.

SymbolWheeled unitExample
Undercarriage Layouts Bogie 02.jpg 2 wheels, 1 axle
Airbus A380 nose landing gear (consisting of a single 2-wheel bogie) A380-Undercarriage.JPG
Airbus A380 nose landing gear (consisting of a single 2-wheel bogie)
UndercarriageArrangements Bogie 03.jpg 4 wheels, 2 axles
An Airbus A330's main landing gear (consisting of two 4-wheel bogies) A7-ACA, Airbus A330-200 of Qatar Airways.jpg
An Airbus A330's main landing gear (consisting of two 4-wheel bogies)
UndercarriageArrangements Bogie 04.jpg 6 wheels, 3 axles
A Boeing 777's main landing gear (consisting of two 6-wheel bogies) Aa.b777-200er.n788an.mains.arp.jpg
A Boeing 777's main landing gear (consisting of two 6-wheel bogies)
UndercarriageArrangements Bogie 05.jpg 14 wheels, 7 axles
The Antonov An-225's main landing gear (consisting of two 14-wheel bogies) Antonov-225 main landing gear 2.jpg
The Antonov An-225's main landing gear (consisting of two 14-wheel bogies)

The tables below show how various types of wheeled units are arranged to form the undercarriages of some popular aircraft from manufacturers Antonov, Airbus, and Boeing.

Antonov

AircraftWheels and
Configuration
Nose sectionCenter sectionExample
An-225 32 wheels
[2x2]+[2x14]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 03.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 10.jpg
The Antonov An-225 with its 32-wheel landing gear. Note the front gear made of two independent, parallel 2-wheel bogies Antonov An-225 landing at Gostomel Airport.jpeg
The Antonov An-225 with its 32-wheel landing gear. Note the front gear made of two independent, parallel 2-wheel bogies

Airbus

AircraftWheels and
Configuration
Nose sectionCenter sectionExample
A318, A319, A320 , A321(standard)6 wheels
[1x2]+[2x2]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 01.jpg
An Airbus A319 from bmi Bmi a319-100 g-dbcf landing incloseup arp.jpg
An Airbus A319 from bmi
A300 , A310 , A320 , A330 , A350-900 10 wheels
[1x2]+[2x4]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 02.jpg
Airbus A350-900 of Vietnam Airlines HVN A350 F-WZFI!014 5jun15 LFBO.jpg
Airbus A350-900 of Vietnam Airlines
A340-200/300 12 wheels
[1x2]+[2x4+1x2]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 05.jpg
An Airbus A340-300 from Kuwait Airways. Note the usage of an isolated 2-wheel unit in the central landing gear (similar to the MD-11) Kuwait airways a340-300 9k-anb landing arp.jpg
An Airbus A340-300 from Kuwait Airways. Note the usage of an isolated 2-wheel unit in the central landing gear (similar to the MD-11)
A340-500/600 14 wheels
[1x2]+[3x4]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 06.jpg
Airbus A340-600 of Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600 (G-VWIN) arrives London Heathrow 31May2009 arp.jpg
Airbus A340-600 of Virgin Atlantic
A350-1000 14 wheels
[1x2]+[2x6]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 08.jpg
Airbus A350-1000 of Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000 (A7-ANA).jpg
Airbus A350-1000 of Qatar Airways
A380 22 wheels
[1x2]+[2x4+2x6]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 09.jpg
Airbus A380 in Airbus markings Airbus A380-800 (F-WWDD) overflies Filton Airfield (England) 18Jul2010 arp.jpg
Airbus A380 in Airbus markings

Boeing

AircraftWheels and
Configuration
Nose sectionCenter sectionExample
717 , 727 , 737 6 wheels
[1x2]+[2x2]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 01.jpg
A Boeing 737 from Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 N231WN.jpg
A Boeing 737 from Southwest Airlines
747 18 wheels
[1x2]+[4x4]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 03.jpg
A Boeing 747-400's main landing gear. Note the toes-up bias angle of the bogies on the wing gear, to ensure correct stowage upon retraction Ba b747-400 g-civx maingeardetail arp.jpg
A Boeing 747-400's main landing gear. Note the toes-up bias angle of the bogies on the wing gear, to ensure correct stowage upon retraction
707 , 720 , 757 , 767 , 787 10 wheels
[1x2]+[2x4]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 02.jpg
A Boeing 757-200 from British Airways Ba b757-200 g-bpei takeoff arp.jpg
A Boeing 757-200 from British Airways
777 14 wheels
[1x2]+[2x6]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 01.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 08.jpg
A Boeing 777-200 from United Airlines. Using 6-wheel bogies, instead of the common 4-wheel bogies (reminiscent of earlier generation Tupolev Tu-154), was visionary for contemporary aircraft at the time of the design of the 777 United Airlines B777-200 N780UA.jpg
A Boeing 777-200 from United Airlines. Using 6-wheel bogies, instead of the common 4-wheel bogies (reminiscent of earlier generation Tupolev Tu-154), was visionary for contemporary aircraft at the time of the design of the 777
B-52 Stratofortress 8 main wheels plus 2 outrigger wheels
[2x2]+[2x2]
Undercarriage Layouts FrontEnd 02.jpg Undercarriage Layouts Center 07.jpg
A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress featuring its characteristic landing gear with 8 wheels under fuselage and two outrigger wheels near wingtips B-52 Stratofortress Takeoff.jpg
A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress featuring its characteristic landing gear with 8 wheels under fuselage and two outrigger wheels near wingtips