Page 6 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2015 Online Magazine

LANDING GEAR
ORY
COVER STORY LANDING GEAR
CO
VER ST
Leg Work
It takes a lot to put an aircraft on a strong footing
By Subodh Agarwal
The global landing gear
maintenance market saw a
growth of 130 per cent from 2008
to 2013 and is estimated to reach
US$1,11 billion by 2022
6 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015
If AIRCRAfT dELIVERY CYCLES ARE any CRJs, and more than one-third will be
indication, the landing-gear shops should done on Embraer ERJs. BAE and Fokker
be busy in the next few years. Commercial will split the remaining sixth of overhauls
jet aircraft ordered in the last decade are roughly evenly.
approaching the 10 year milestone and are The requirement to remove and overhaul
therefore due for landing gear overhaul. landing gear is about every 10 years,
Forecasts show demand for overhauls depending on aircraft use and model.
of nearly 4,100 nose gear and more than During every landing, the landing gear
4,000 shipsets of main landing gear has to absorb high dynamic loads when
for these aircraft in the next couple of up to 285 tons of aluminum and payload
years. The forecast spans Airbus, Boeing, arrive on the main runway. As the landing
Douglas and McDonnell Douglas mainline, gear becomes the sole direct link between
and Bombardier, Embraer, Fokker and the airframe and tarmac, it is vital to the
BAE regional jets. safe conclusion of the flight.
Approximately 80 per cent of main A landing gear combines a multitude of
landing gear overhauls will be performed parts, large and small, all of them intricately
on mainline jets: roughly three-fifths of meshed. Working on it therefore requires a
these will be on Boeing models, and about process chain with an outstanding degree of
one-third on Airbus jets. coordination among all participants. This
As per the Aviation Week Intelligence includes repair, overhaul and certification
Network’s forecasts made in December designed to increase efficiency and
2012, nearly half of all regional jets gear minimise the economic implications of
overhauls will be required for Bombardier landing gear maintenance.
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