Video revealing true scale of Boeing landing gear will astonish you
- The landing gear of a plane includes, among other things, its wheels
- On most airliners, the landing gear is larger than a car
- The wheels alone are taller than the average person
Published on May 13, 2024 at 7:18 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on May 14, 2024 at 5:46 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This is what the landing gear of a wide-body airliner looks like when you’re standing next to it.
And as you can see, it is absolutely gargantuan.
You can see how each wheel is significantly larger than an actual human being, and the landing gear as a whole is larger than some cars.
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When it comes to size and dimensions, everything about aircraft can be deceptive.
This is probably because we’re used to seeing planes from afar, from the departure lounge, while we’re waiting until it’s time to go to the gate.
Generally speaking, at most airports in the world, passengers are only allowed to walk up to the plane when they’re flying on smaller aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 or Airbus A316/320 jets that low-cost airlines sometimes use.
By contrast, when people fly on larger jets on trans-continental flights, there’s usually a loading bridge to connect the gate and the aircraft.
As a result, the landing gear of wide-body, twin-jet airliners is not something we get to see every day.
In fact, the landing gear of a plane is something we often don’t think about at all.
But it’s hugely important, as the man who fixed the landing gear of a plane in mid-air can probably confirm.
It is technically possible to land without landing gear, and without crashing the plane, but it is tricky.
And certainly not something anybody would want to experience.
And yet, as wild as it may sound, aircraft concepts and prototypes with no landing gear at all exist.
It’s a solution that the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the naval aviation guys from the UK, once tried in an attempt to save weight.
But to be honest we’re not surprised it never caught on.
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