THIS paper points out that the shock-absorbing system of the main landing-gear of an airplane must function under the impact of landing and while taxiing on landing fields. The present requirements for impact landing are outlined, and a typical analysis is made to check up a proposed system for a given airplane.
The effects of geometrical arrangement of gear, of tire size and of tire rebound are considered. Laboratory methods of testing systems to determine whether the requirements have been met are discussed.
The characteristics desired of the shock-absorber system for good taxiing are enumerated, and the effects of various types and arrangements of absorber units on performance are investigated.
In conclusion, the paper presents a discussion of the tail-wheel shock-absorber system in which it is brought out that the same criteria that are applied to the main gear apply here, but that the relative importance of various factors is not the same as in the main gear.