Aircraft with retracted front landing gear

• US 20100012781A1
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus France
• Inventors: CAZALS, Olivier, GENTY DE LA SAGNE, Jaime
• Granted Patent: US 8,550,400 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/119
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/0683 Nose cones
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 2001/0045 Fuselages characterised by special shapes
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 25/04 Arrangement or disposition on aircraft

Abstract

An aircraft has a fuselage 1 of elongated form along a longitudinal axis X corresponding essentially to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.

In a first forward section, the fuselage comprises a cockpit 22 in front of a cockpit bulkhead 51 and a front landing gear 4 associated with a landing gear compartment 41 located behind the cockpit bulkhead 51.

The front landing gear 4 and its landing gear compartment 41 are preferably at least partially beneath the floorboard of a compartment of the lower space of the fuselage and in a bulge 24 that increases the volume available for installation of the landing gear.

Claims

1. Aircraft that has a fuselage (1) elongated along a longitudinal axis X essentially along a longitudinal axis of the aircraft that determines a direction toward the front along a direction of motion of the aircraft in flight, said aircraft comprising in a forward section (2):

a cockpit (22) in front of a cockpit bulkhead (51), and;

a front landing gear (4) and a landing gear compartment (41) associated with said front landing gear, said landing gear and said landing gear compartment being produced on and in the fuselage (1) behind the cockpit bulkhead (51);

characterized in that the landing gear compartment (41) is produced entirely or partly in a bulge (24) in the fuselage located behind the cockpit bulkhead (51) in a lower part of the fuselage, whose profile has a local downward extreme.

2. Aircraft pursuant to claim 1 in which the bulge (24) of the fuselage is obtained by an ovoid shape of an extreme forward tapered section (7) of the fuselage (2) in front of the cockpit bulkhead (1) [sic], in which said ovoid shape a lower profile (53) of said extreme forward section is essentially symmetrical relative to an upper profile (54) relative to an axis parallel to the axis of the fuselage X and passing through a nose (21) of the fuselage.

3. Aircraft pursuant to claim 2 in which a floorboard (11) delimits an upper space of the fuselage, comprising the cockpit (22) and a cabin (12) to the rear of said cockpit, and a lower space of the fuselage comprising a technical electronics cabinet (13) devoted to technical applications associated with the cockpit (22) in front of the cockpit bulkhead (51), beneath the floorboard (11).

4. Aircraft pursuant to claim 3 in which the front landing gear (4) and the landing gear compartment (41) are entirely or partially located beneath a floorboard of a cargo compartment (15) in the lower space of the fuselage and in a section of said fuselage behind the cockpit bulkhead (51).

5. Aircraft pursuant to claim 4 in which the front landing gear (4) and the landing gear compartment (41) are in sections located along the longitudinal axis X at the level of an electronics cabinet (14) for commercial applications associated with the cabin (12) and/or the cargo storage compartment (15), with said commercial electronics cabinet being located in the lower space of the fuselage between the cockpit bulkhead (51) to the front and the cargo storage compartment (15) to the rear along the longitudinal axis X.

6. Aircraft pursuant to claim 5 in which a portion of the fuselage between a fuselage nose (21) and essentially the cockpit bulkhead (51) determines a first section (7) of fuselage comprising essentially the cockpit (22) and the electronics cabinet (13) devoted to technical applications, with the geometric and structural characteristics of said section being independent of the geometric and structural characteristics of the front landing gear (4).

7. Aircraft pursuant to claim 6 in which the front landing gear (4) and the landing gear compartment (41) are produced in a second section (8) of fuselage, with the second section comprising the lower bulge (24), with the second section delimited in the front by the first section (7) and at the rear by the rear section (3) of the fuselage.

8. Method for producing an aircraft fuselage pursuant to claim 7 in which the second section (8) is made as a function of a cross section (31) for joining to the rear section (3) and of characteristics of the aircraft, a function of the model of aircraft to be manufactured, and to which second section is assembled a first section (7), which first section is essentially independent of the model of aircraft to be manufactured.