Landing gear testing

Transforming itself from component supplier to integrated systems supplier; a landing gear manufacturer faces new testing challenges.

In the quest for more profits in a highly competitive aerospace industry, airframers continually look for ways to shorten aircraft development time so that they can realize their return on investment much sooner. This not only places a burden on the airframers' engineering and development staff, but it continually challenges system and component suppliers to rethink their development processes and role in the industry.

Messier-Dowty traditionally was just a landing gear supplier; it was concerned only with developing the landing gear structure and subsystems. Other components of the landing gear system were farmed out directly from the airframer, which would manage all the activities for the system's development. However, in 1994, the company decided to change its business direction significantly by accepting a contract from Bombardier to develop and supply an integrated landing gear system for the Global Express business jet.