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LANDING GEAR

4.1 GENERAL - ASSEMBLY OF LANDING GEAR

4.2 LANDING GEAR FITTINGS
4.3 LANDING GEAR SHOCK ABSORBERS
4.4 GROUND RESONANCE AND FUNCTION OF THE SHOCK ABSORBERS

FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY

Iss. Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS

41-2006
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006
4.1
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List of effective pages

Page 01 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006 Page 04 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006

Page 02 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006 Page 05 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006

Page 03 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006 Page 06 .................................................... Iss. 41-2006

FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY

Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS Iss.
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
4.2 the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006 41-2006
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4 LANDING GEAR

4.1 GENERAL - ASSEMBLY OF LANDING GEAR

The landing gear supports the helicopter, protects the

airframe on landing and damps out vibration when the
helicopter is on the ground with the rotor spinning.
The landing gear assembly comprises:
- a front cross tube (2) and a rear cross tube (4)
1 - Skid, light alloy
- two skids (1)
2 - Front cross tube, steel
- two hydraulic shock absorbers (3) 3 - Hydraulic shock absorber
4 - Rear cross tube, steel
5 - Attachment point stop
6 - Structure
7 - Upper lining, elastomer
8 - Landing gear cross tube
9 - Lower lining, elastomer
10 - Half-clamp

Clamped to body
structure
Shock absorbers secured
X-bulkheads
on 15° frame

3 4

1 7

Clamped to bottom
5 8
structure beams

10

FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY

Iss. Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS

41-2006
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006
4.3
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4.2 LANDING GEAR FITTINGS

1 - Support bolt for handling wheel fittings
2 - Engine access rear footstep.
1 2
3 - Flexible steel strip
4 - Steel wear pads
5 - Cabin entry footstep. (high L/G)
6 - Footstep anti-skid pad

3
6

5 4

NOTE : An optional wear plate is available

to protect the skids over their full length.

Installation holes for handling wheels

4 for different helicopter c.g. positions

4.3 GROUND RESONANCE AND FUNCTION OF THE SHOCK ABSORBERS

When the helicopter is in flight, the rotors, engine and

drive shafts generate vibrations that propagate through Amplitude
the airframe, whose components vibrate at their own natu- approximately 1
ral frequency varying mainly with their weight, stiffness mm
or flexibility (i.e. their shape, dimensions and materials).
The helicopter is thus subjected to a complex pattern of Leg distorts
vibrations, which can sum up (vibration amplitude in-
creases) or subtract (vibration amplitude decreases). The
designer obviously attempts to reduce the vibration level
by "tuning" the natural frequency of the helicopter com-
ponents. When the helicopter is in flight, it is isolated and
the vibrational level always stabilizes in given flight con-
ditions - neither increasing nor decreasing.
In contrast, when the helicopter is on the ground with its
rotor spinning, the vibrations have a support point via the Steel strip bends
landing gear; if the natural frequency of the landing gear downward
coincides with the principal vibrational frequencies of the
main rotor, the vibrations are augmented every blade revo- In addition, the function of the shock absorbers between
lution as they receive a new "reflected" impulse. The vi- the landing gear's "soft" front leg and the structure is to
bration amplitude then increases very rapidly, the vibra- absorb the vibration energy and hence prevent all diver-
tion becomes divergent and the resulting oscillations can gent oscillations.
destroy and overturn the helicopter. This phenomenon is
called GROUND RESONANCE. Another point to note is that the flexibility of the cross
A flexible steel strip bent downwards behind the skid in- tubes, skids and steel strip attenuates the helicopter's
creases the landing gear stiffness and changes its natu- vertical deceleration at touchdown whereas the impact
ral frequency so that ground resonance can never occur. energy is absorbed by the shock absorbers and by the
rubbing action of the skids on the ground.

FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY

Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS Iss.
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
4.4 the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006 41-2006
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4.4 LANDING GEAR SHOCK ABSORBERS

The main characteristic of the shock absorber is its damp- Attachment fitting
ing velocity. on 15° frame
Rod-end bearing
When a 500 daN load is applied:
- the piston moves through ± 2 mm
- at a velocity of 35 mm/s
- and a frequency of 3.1 Hz

Spacer
1

FWD
Bolt locking clamp on
7 2
L/G cross tube

Chamfered washers

1 - Filling plugs 5
2 - Hydraulic fluid reservoir
3 - Plug
4 - Piston
5 - Cylinder
6 - Shock absorber casing 6
7 - Filling and bleed non-return valve
8 - Overpressure spring washer
9 - Overpressure spring washer
10 - Normal throttling orifice

OPERATION

1 - Load < 550 daN

Damping is produced by throttling fluid through the
calibrated orifice (10).
Rod-end bearing
2 - Load > 550 daN
Overpressure spring washers (8) and (9) move up
to significantly increase the fluid flow area:
8
- upward load: washer (9) moves up
- downward load: washer (8) moves up.
3 - Non-return valve (7) automatically bleeds off and
fills the working chambers from the fluid reservoir
(2).
It should be noted that external leakage cannot oc-
cur because the fluid recovered between the shock
absorber casing and cylinder is fed back into the
reservoir (2). 9
10
FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY
Iss. Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS

41-2006
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006
4.5
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FOR INSTRUCTION ONLY

Ce document est la propriété d' ETS ; il ne peut être communiqué à des tiers et/ou reproduit sans l'autorisation préalable écrite d' ETS Iss.
et son contenu ne peut être divulgué. This document is the property of ETS ; no part of it shall be reproduced or transmitted without
4.6 the express prior written authorization of ETS and its contents shall not be disclosed. © Eurocopter Training Services 05-2006 41-2006