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Wednesday, 12 May 2010

WTF: Douglas A-20 Havoc With Caterpillar Tracked Landing Gear 1947

3 comments:

rhhardin said...

It raises the effective wheel diameter without taking up the space of a larger wheel.

steveH said...

And that was an issue with the really big aircraft coming into service at the end and after WW2.

The XB-36 being a particularly good example, with its enormous single-wheel gear, which given the weight of the bomber, meant that very few airfields could handle the thing without damage.

So it tried out the caterpillar gear, but ended up going with a multi-wheel truck arrangement, much like the 747 or Airbus 380 solution.

Brian said...

The excelent Polish PZL37 Los had a twin wheel main undercarriage in the late thirties.