Custom RC Airliner Landing Gear
This week was spent studying and designing landing gear for the L-1011 Scale Airline Model. After watching many videos of the various retractable landing gear systems and configurations used on airliners, I was able to successfully model near scale replica of the TriStar’s main Landing Gear.
Renderings are at the bottom of this page
Up until this point, I have only had a very simplistic gear model as I worked on other parts of the model. As I get nearer to completing the primary design of the airframe’s structure and supports, I turned my attention to the Gear. In earlier versions the thought was to use off the shelf large scale RC gear for the main landing system.
After more consideration, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to have gear that more closely resembled the full scale version. This change, of course, means I now need to have high precision machined parts in order for this to work.
The primary challenge with this design was figuring out how to support the gear. I turned to full scale airliners for inspiration and discovery. On most airliners that I’ve studied, the primary gear assembly pivots on a trunnion. I was unable to find an example of a trunnion style RC landing gear setup, so I pretty much had to reference videos and diagrams from around the web. The second challenge for this design was making all of the parts fit into the confined space without compromising the structural supports needed. In the rendering below, you will see it is a fairly tight fit when the gear is retracted.
The most obvious deviation from conventional landing gear design is how the assembly is actuated. I did consider using an RC Hydraulic system, however, upon research I discovered the additional complexity this adds and the higher likelihood of failure. A hydraulic system also introduced more material with higher maintenance requirements.
The key was figuring out how to extend and retract the gear within the confined space. After hours of adjusting, rearranging, and tweaking, I was able to position a standard high torque servo aft of the rear spar. The servo is mounted to the interior surface of the trunnion support spar. This allowed for every component to fit snuggly within the wing; also providing easy maintenance and replacement access.
True to scale, I also went with an Oleo Pneumatic Strut suspension system for the plane. Based on the renderings, it should look really nice in real life.
The Gear Assembly
In the following diagram you can see all of the components that make up the main assembly for the model L-1011. Following the design principles used in full size aircraft, this represents all of the primary moving and static parts that will make up the hardware needed for this model aircraft.
3D Renders of the Main Oleo Pneumatic Strut Landing Gear Assembly
More Renderings
