Airbus Operations Gmbh

Airbus UK Limited

Robert Ian Thompson

Sylvain Boye

Nick Livings

Nicholas J White

Fraser Wilson

Benjamin Bishop

Christopher Lynas

Stephen P Briancourt

Matthew Gadd

Matthew Harding

Trevor Anthony Brighton

Geoffrey Richard Williams

Stefan Napier

Llifon Williams

Nicola Marongiu

John Hobday

Nicholas Livings

Kevin Nicholls

Thomas H Engelbrecht

An aircraft landing gear assembly is disclosed including a landing gear bracket, a fore lever receiving a fore aircraft wheel, an aft lever receiving a rear aircraft wheel, the fore and aft levers being independently moveable, wherein the bracket further comprises a fore lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the fore lever past a lowest rotational position with respect to the bracket at a first angle αforward from the notional bracket axis, and a rear lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the rear lever past a lowest rotational position at a second angle αbehind from the notional bracket axis, wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle. An aircraft and a method of landing an aircraft are also disclosed.

Aircraft landing gear assembly

An aircraft landing gear is disclosed having a first oleo strut include a sleeve portion and a slider portion, the slider portion being slidable within a hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion, and a second, similar oleo strut. The landing gear also includes a hydraulic fluid balancer having a balance chamber separated into first and second end sections, wherein the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the first oleo strut is fluidly connected to the first section of the balance chamber and the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the second oleo strut is fluidly connected to the second section of the balance chamber of the hydraulic fluid balancer.

Aircraft landing gear

An uplock is disclosed including a hook configured to engage a capture pin mounted on an aircraft component. The hook is mounted for movement between a closed position and an open position. The uplock further includes an indicator system configured to detect whether a pin is engaged with the hook when the hook is in the closed position.

Aircraft uplock

An aircraft landing gear assembly () including a shock absorber strut (), a bogie (), a link assembly (), and a movement detector (). The shock absorber strut includes an upper and a lower telescoping parts (), the upper part being connectable to the airframe of an aircraft and the lower part being connected to the bogie such that the bogie may adopt different pitch angles. The link assembly extends between the upper and lower telescoping parts, such that relative movement between the upper and lower telescoping parts causes relative movement between parts of the link assembly. The movement detector is arranged to detect movement of the link assembly relative to the bogie. The movement detector detects movement by sensing a change in linear displacement of, or angle between, one or more members.

A spring assemblyfor aircraft landing gearincluding: an interfacevia which the spring assemblyis attachable to a support; a loading pointfor receiving a load from one or more wheelsor skids in use, wherein the loading pointis movable relative to the interface; a spring systemthat is configured to apply a resilient biasing force to the loading pointto oppose movement of the loading pointrelative to the interface. The spring systemis configured so that, during application of an increasing load to the loading pointagainst the resilient biasing force of the spring system, a spring rate of the spring systemchanges from a first spring rate k1 to a second spring rate k2, the second spring rate k2 being less than the first spring rate k1.

Aircraft landing gear spring assembly

An aircraft landing gearis disclosed having a first armconfigured to have one or more wheelsmounted at one end, the first armbeing configured for mounting to a pivot. The landing gearincludes a second armconfigured to have one or more wheelsmounted at one end, the second armbeing configured for mounting to a pivot. The landing gearfurther includes a first linkpivotally coupled to the first arm, a second linkpivotally coupled to the second arm; and a main linkpivotally coupled to each of the first and second linksand to a shock absorberarranged to provide a biasing force via (i) the main linkageand the first linkwhich opposes rotation of the first armabout the pivotand (ii) the main linkageand the second linkwhich opposes rotation of the second armabout the pivot

Landing gear

A landing gear assembly () includes a primary load bearing strut including a shock absorber having a slider part () arranged to slide within a cylinder part (). A link assembly () is attached between the slider part () and the cylinder part (). A bogie () supporting wheels is mounted on the strut. The bogie may adopt different pitch angles. A pitch trimmer device () is attached to the bogie and to the link assembly, for example thus providing a relatively long moment arm () for control of the bogie pitch angle. The arrangement may be such that the pitch trimmer () is near mid-stroke as the aircraft achieves the full weight on wheels condition, whereas the pitch trimmer is at a fullest extent for flight case and for retraction. Onset of pitch trimmer closure/movement is used to detect the weight-on-wheels condition.

Pitch trimmer

An aircraft () having a wing assembly () including a fixed wing () with a wing tip device (). The wing tip device () is moveable between: a flight configuration; and a ground configuration. The outer end of the fixed wing () terminates at an outer rib (), and the inner end of the wing tip device () terminates at an inner rib (). The outer and inner ribs () are located on opposing sides of an interface between the fixed wing () and the wing tip device (). The fixed wing-skin () terminates inwardly of the interface, but the outer rib () has a surface-forming portion () forming an extension of the fixed wing-skin towards the interface. The wing tip device-skin () terminates outwardly of the interface, but the inner rib has a surface-forming portion () forming an extension of the wing tip device-skin towards the interface.

Arrangement of ribs at an interface between an outer end of a wing and a moveable wing tip device

A method of configuring a wing tip device () on an aircraft (), including: undertaking ground-based operations at an airport with the wing tip device () in a ground configuration, in which the span of the aircraft is within an airport compatibility limit, moving the wing tip device () to a take-off configuration in which the wing tip device () is moved away from the ground configuration such that the span of the aircraft is increased and such that the wing tip device () has a first lift coefficient; taking-off with the wing tip device () in the take-off configuration; moving the wing tip device from the take-off configuration to a flight configuration, in which the wing tip device has a second lift coefficient, the second lift coefficient being lower than the first lift coefficient. The lift coefficient may be changed by adjusting the sweep of the wing tip device ().

Methods of configuring a wing tip device on an aircraft

An aircraft () including a wing () having a wing tip device () configurable between: a flight configuration and a ground configuration in which the span of the wing () is reduced. The aircraft () further includes a lock () for locking the wing tip device () in the flight configuration, and an actuator () for unlocking the lock () and for subsequently actuating the wing tip device () to the ground configuration. The actuator () is a two-stage hydraulic actuator, including a first hydraulic actuator stage () arranged to unlock the lock and a second hydraulic actuator stage () arranged to actuate the wing tip device () to the ground configuration. The first and second hydraulic actuator stages () are arranged in series such that the second actuator stage () is unable to receive a hydraulic input feed until the first actuator stage () unlocks the lock ().

Dual-purpose locking and folding arrangement for an aircraft wing tip device

An aircraft wing () has a wing tip device () joined thereto. The root () of the wing tip device () is joined to the tip of the wing () at a first connection (). An external strut () extends between the wing () and the wing tip device (), the strut () being joined to the wing () at a second connection (). The second connection () is inboard of the first connection, such that loadings on the wing tip device () generated during use, are transferred, via the strut (), to a location on the wing () that is inboard of where the root () of the wing tip device () is joined to the tip of the wing.

Aircraft wing with a wing tip device and a strut

Aircraft landing gear comprising a locking assembly including a pair of spaced-apart bearing pads and a lock member. The lock member is moveable between a locked position in which it engages the bearing pads to prevent pivotal movement of a steerable axle, and an unlocked position in which the member is disengaged from the bearing pads such that movement of the axle can occur. The lock member has a guide surface on either side for guiding the member and bearing pads into alignment during movement of the member from the unlocked to the locked position. The guide surface comprises a first inclined portion for moving the member towards alignment with the bearing pads and a second inclined portion, spaced apart from the first portion, for moving the member into alignment with the bearing pads such that the member and bearing pads are aligned in a movement comprising two stages.

Aircraft landing gear and a locking mechanism therefor

An aircraft comprises a wing, a wing tip device at the tip of the wing and an actuator. The actuator is arranged to effect movement of the wing tip device between a flight configuration for use during flight and a ground configuration in which the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that the span of the aircraft is reduced. The aircraft comprises a carriage guide, such as a rail, fixed relative to the wing, and a carriage arranged to move along the carriage guide as the wing tip device moves between the flight and ground configurations. The wing tip device is fixed relative to the carriage such that the path of the wing tip device, during movement of the wing tip device, between the flight and the ground configurations, is defined by the shape of the carriage guide.

Arrangement for moving a wing tip device between a flight configuration and a ground configuration

An aircraft comprises a wing, a wing tip device at the tip of the wing and an actuator. The actuator is arranged to effect movement of the wing tip device between a flight configuration for use during flight and a ground configuration in which the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that the span of the aircraft is reduced. The aircraft comprises a carriage guide, such as a track assembly, fixed relative to the wing, and a carriage arranged to move along the track assembly as the wing tip device moves between the flight and ground configurations. The carriage carries the wing tip device on a pivot, such that the wing tip device is rotatable relative to the carriage, about the pivot, as the carriage moves along the track assembly. The movement of the wing tip device between the flight and the ground configurations, may thereby comprise both a rotational component of movement of the wing tip device about the pivot, and a translational component of movement, of the pivot, along the track assembly.

Arrangement for effecting movement of a wing tip device between a flight configuration and a ground configuration

An aircraft wing comprising a load transfer apparatus arranged to transfer transverse shear loads from a first component such as a wing skin to a second, adjacent component such as a wing skin. The apparatus comprises a master interlock, and a plurality of slave interlocks. Each master interlock comprises a master male member received in a master female member to form the master interlock. Each of the plurality of slave interlocks comprises a slave male member received in a corresponding female member to form the slave interlocks. The master male and female members are sufficiently stiff that the master male member and the master female member are fixed, whereas the slave male and/or female members are less stiff than the master male and female members such that the slave male and/or female members are able to tolerate some movement, in the transverse direction.

Growing community of inventors

Bristol, United Kingdom

Robert Ian Thompson