AVAM 2101

P6 Project: Landing Gear System Analysis

Reference from Falcon-20 Maintenance Manual

Ming Lun Au
A00560226

Analysis of Falcon-20
 The landing gear type of FALCON-20 is Tricycle type with twin wheels (Bogie)
attached to a trailer arm (swinging lever). Its operating power is hydraulic pressure
electrically controlled for normal operation and mechanically controlled for
emergency operation. The hydraulic system applied a Mineral-Base Fluid (Mil-H-
5606).

Main gear (Drag brace) is consisting of:

1. Strut
(Steel, attachment fitting of the shock absorber and operating jack
And received the trailer arm carrying the wheels)
2. Trailer arm
(Attachment fitting of the shock absorber, two wheel axles and two
flanges receiving the two brakes. Hinged on the strut by a pin
supporting the roller engaging into the up-lock
3. Wheels and brakes
(Bogie, two wheels in each landing gear)
4. Shock absorber
(External to the strut and, attached on the strut and trailer arm
Oleo-pneumatic shock-absorber is filled with oil Mil-H-5606 and
inflated with nitrogen, 798psi.
5. Gear operation jack
(Attached to a titanium fitting mounted on the wing root, the piston is
attached to the gear and received two hydraulic lines for gear extension
and one line only for gear retraction.
6. Gear up lock
(Carried a microswitch, locking-device)

Nose gear (Side brace) is consisting of:

1. Strut (same as above)
2. Trailer arm (same as above)
3. wheels, but no brake
(Bogie, two wheels in each landing gear, but is a steering system and
no brake)
4. Shock absorber (same as above
5. Gear operation jack (same as above)
6. Gear up lock (same as above)
7. Telescopic bar (Used an annular claw for down locking and carried a
 microswitch used for door sequencing and nose gear position
indication))

Indicator Panel
The indicator panel, one of indicating device in cockpit, is mounted on the
instrument panel close to the gear control handles. It consists of three rectangular red
lights (single bulb lights) and three green arrows (dual bulb lights). The lights are
steady, electrical power is 28.5v DC from the main bus.

A RED light is ON when the corresponding door not closed and locked.
Illumination is controlled by the corresponding front door lock mircoswitch. In other
hands, A GREEN light is ON when the corresponding landing gear is down and
locked. Illumination is controlled by the corresponding main gear jack microswitch
for the nose jack.

Audio Warning
Another indicating pilot in cockpit is audio warning. A warning horn sounds when a
gear is not locked down, both throttles reduced below 80-82% ,and wing flaps
extended above 28 ﾟ.

Retraction/Extension
 Landing gear and doors are normally operated from hydraulic system No.1.
Sequences of operation are electrically controlled, electrical power being 28.5 volts
DC from the auxiliary bus supplied through L/G selector circuit breaker.

The main gears and nose gear are different direction of extension and retraction.
The nose gear has drag brace, fore and aft mounting arm, that extends and retracts
fore and aft. The main gears have side braces, lateral mounting arm, that extends and
retracts laterally.

For normal extension of landing gear, Sequences and indications:

1. The throttles are reduced to decrease the speed below 190kts
(The light in gear control handle comes on and warning horn sounds)
2. Selection of the normal control handle to the down position
a. Opening of the wheel well doors
(Illumination of the three red lights)
b. Extension and locking of the gears
(The down-lock mircoswitches, between the main gear operating
jack and nose gear telescopic rod, cause illumination of the three
green lights)
c. Closing of doors
(Three green lights remain on)
The electrical power in extension operation, L/G selector circuit-breaker
must be engaged. The power must be ON in the aircraft and the auxiliary bus
switch in the ON position.
The normal control handle is UP and the emergency control handle IN.
Both electro-valves are de-energized and no pressure can be delivered to the
jack. The “door closed” coil of relay is energized.

For normal Retraction of landing gear, sequences and indications:

1. The throttles are in the take-off power position
(The light in gear control handle is out and warning horn does not
sound)
2. Selection of the normal control handle to the up-position
a. Opening of the wheel well doors.
(The three red lights comes on and the three green lights remain on)
b. Retraction and locking of the gears.
(The three green lights go out and the three red lights stay on)
 c. Closing of the doors
(The three red lights remain on)

The electrical power in extension operation, L/G selector circuit-breaker

must be engaged. The power must be ON in the aircraft and the auxiliary bus
switch in the ON position.
The normal control handle is DOWN and the emergency control handle
IN. Both electro-valves are de-energized and no pressure can be delivered to
the jack. The “door closed” coil of relay is energized through the L/G down-
lock microswitches.
Then, the three green lights are ON.

Attaching a figure for normal extension and retraction.

For emergency, an emergency control system is provided for the landing gear
for extension only. The gears and doors are operated from hydraulic system no.2 and
there are no electrical sequences

UpLock and DownLock

When gears are either in up or down position, the locking devices hold the gears
in position for safely purpose to prevent gear retracted or extended in unexpected.

The Gear up-locks, each one is mounted in the corresponding wheel well and
carries a microswitch. It consists mainly of a pivoting hook attached by a spring to a
bellcrank. In the “locked” position the spring maintains the head of the hook applied
against a roller carried by the bellcrank which prevents rotation, the roller frees the
top part of the hook which is pulled by the spring and pivots.
Unlocking: Rotation of the bellcrank can be obtained either by 1 or 2 small
pistons actuated by No.1 and No.2 hydraulic pressure, or
manually
Locking: The landing gear roller engages in the hook which is forced to
pivot and lock the gear.

The Gear down-locks, they are incorporated in main gear jacks and in the
telescopic bar. The piston of these units carries a flexible annular claw. When full
extension is about to the reached, the claw engages under an internal shoulder of the
cylinder where it is locked by an annular piston pushed by a spring. At the time of
retraction, hydraulic pressure pushes back the locking piston, the spring is
compressed, and the claw is free to contract and slide under the shoulder.

Gear and door locks manually release. A mechanical system is provided on each
gear for manual release of the gear up-lock and door lock. This system is completely
independent from the hydraulic system lock.
---In nose gear system, pulling on the latch drives the lever, the bellcrank
on the gear up-lock, the spring and the cable loaded bellcrank which operates
the rocker and release the door lock. When full travel of latch is reached, the
bellcrank mounted on the gear up-lock releases this lock.
---For main gear system, Same concept, pulling on the ring releases the
door locks, then the gear up-lock.

Wheel Steering

In Falcon-20, the turning direction is by nose wheel steering system.

It consists of a control linkage, a free-back linkage, a servo-valve, a solenoid valve
and an operating jack.

On the ground operation, if hydraulic pump No.1 is in operation with nose gear
locked down and shock absorber compressed, the steering system can operate.

When the pilot turns the steering control wheel the resulting displacement of the
control linkage drives the lever of the servo-valve. The feed back linkage being fixed,
the movement of the lever combines a rotation and a translation and causes the servo-
valve plate to tilt thus opening a valve. Hydraulic fluid under pressure is delivered
through this valve to a chamber of the jack while the other chamber is connected to
the reservoir. The moving part of the jack causes the rotation of the nose wheel.
During castering of the wheel, the control linkage maintained by a pilot is fixed,
the feed back linkage follows the wheel and the servo-valve lever and plate
progressively come back to a zero position where there is more pressure delivered to
the jack. The wheel is then in the desired position.
If it moves away from this position the feed back linkage operates the plate of
the servo-valve to correct this tendency, providing the pilot maintains the control
wheel at the same position.
 If the pilot releases the control wheel while the aircraft is moving: the nose
wheel comes back to a centered position (trailer arm effect), the whole linkage pivots,
the servo valve plate stays in the zero position, a servo valve by-pass provides
communications between the two chambers of the jack. If the aircraft is stopped when
the pilot releases the control wheel, the nose wheel stays in the existing position.
The nose wheel steering system must be used for taxiing take-off and landing up
to a maximum speed of 60krs.

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