Boeing rolled out its latest and largest 737 Max variant, the 737-10, at its Renton plant on 22 November. The aircraft, which is more than a simple stretch as it features a revised main landing gear design, is expected to fly in 2020.
Boeing rolled out its latest and largest 737 Max variant, the 737-10, at its Renton plant on 22 November. The aircraft, which is more than a simple stretch as it features a revised main landing gear design, is expected to fly in 2020.
Paul Lewis/Boeing (via Twitter)
The Max 10 seats up to 230 passengers and is around 1.6m (5ft 3in) longer than the Max 9. The longer fuselage potentially required taller landing gear to ensure the appropriate clearance between the rear fuselage and the ground during take-off rotation.
Paul Lewis/Boeing (via Twitter)
However, a taller gear would have required extensive changes to items such as the main gear wheel well, so Boeing incorporated a semi-levered main gear design. This enables the gear to extend 241mm (9.5in) upon rotation during the take-off run and provides the required clearance. A steel compressing mechanism called a “shrink link” pulls the inner cylinder as the gear retracts.
Paul Lewis/Boeing (via Twitter)
The design (pictured above), which is similar to the gear on the 777-300, preserves commonality within the Max family by allowing the landing gear to be accommodated into the same wheel well as other Max variants.
The 737 Max 10 (above) is around 1.6m longer than the Max 9, necessitating a revised main gear design
Boeing
