Goodrich is providing the main landing gear (body and wing) for the A380, its first undercarriage contract with the European manufacturer. The company's purpose-built 2,000m2 (22,000ft2) facility in Oakville, near Toronto, Canada is due to start drop, fatigue and endurance tests this month, and the company is to supply its first full series-production gear in the fourth quarter. System testing is also under way at Airbus UK's Filton plant near Bristol.
Dan Snow, Goodrich programme director for A380 landing gear, says four initial gear sets being delivered to Airbus in Toulouse this year are to the same specification as the production version, but are "more complex" and slightly heavier due to the inclusion of sensors and other test equipment. Airbus and Goodrich both refuse to disclose the total weight of the gears, but both parties insist weight targets for the largely titanium landing gear have been met.
"The weight stipulation is dynamic, because load analysis and changes to aircraft gross weight can alter our design," says Patrick McDowell, director of business development for Goodrich's landing-gear division.
Goodrich's landing-gear system includes two six-wheel body gear units, which are over 5.6m (18.4ft) high fully extended and two four-wheel wing gear units, which are around 5m tall. The wing gear will be tested at Goodrich's Cleveland, Ohio site.
The company is also starting its trade study activity on landing gear required for the A380F together with Messier-Dowty - supplier of the twin-wheel nose-gear unit - and Airbus this week in Toulouse, says Snow. Airbus says the study is to evaluate whether any additional engineering is required for a gear rated to the Freighter's maximum take-off weight of 590,000kg (1.3 million lb) - 21,000kg greater than the heaviest weight of the initial passenger versions.
Currently each main gear unit is designed to support around 170t. Goodrich, which also designed the Boeing 747-400F's gear, is confident that no significant redesign will be required for the A380F.
Goodrich shipped its first set of gears to Airbus in December last year and is dressing a second set at its St Martin factory close to the A380 assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac airport, for use in the A380 flight-test programme that begins early next year.
Goodrich is also supplying the A380 evacuation system, sensor systems and variable-frequency power generation through its Aerolec joint venture with Thales, with a combined total value of around $4-5 billion, says McDowell.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON
Source: Flight International
