Aircraft with retracted front landing gear

• US 8,550,400 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Cazals, Olivier, Genty de la Sagne, Jaime
• Primary Examiner(s): Collins, Timohty D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stehle, Jamie S
• Application Number:
  US12/494,845
• Publication Number:
  US 20100012781A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,561 Days
• Field of Search: 244/100.R, 244/102.R, 244/117.R, 244/119, 244/120, 244/118, 244/118.5
• 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 of elongated form along a longitudinal axis X corresponding essentially to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. In a first forward section, the fuselage includes a cockpit in front of a cockpit bulkhead and a front landing gear associated with a landing gear compartment located behind the cockpit bulkhead. The front landing gear and the landing gear compartment are at least partially beneath a floorboard of a compartment of a lower space of the fuselage and in a bulge that increases a volume available for installation of the landing gear.

Claims

1. An aircraft that has a fuselage 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:

a cockpit in front of a cockpit bulkhead; and

a front landing gear and a landing gear compartment associated with said front landing gear, said landing gear and said landing gear compartment being produced on and in the fuselage behind the cockpit bulkhead;

wherein the landing gear compartment is produced entirely or partly in a bulge of the fuselage, located behind and adjacent the cockpit bulkhead in a lower part of the fuselage, a profile of said bulge having a local downward extreme.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 in which the bulge of the fuselage is obtained by an ovoid shape of an extreme forward tapered section of the fuselage in front of the cockpit bulkhead, in which said ovoid shape a lower profile of said extreme forward section is essentially symmetrical relative to an upper profile relative to an axis parallel to the axis of the fuselage X and passing through a nose of the fuselage.

3. The aircraft of claim 2 in which a floorboard delimits an upper space of the fuselage, comprising the cockpit and a cabin to the rear of said cockpit, and a lower space of the fuselage comprising a technical electronics cabinet devoted to technical applications associated with the cockpit in front of the cockpit bulkhead, beneath the floorboard.

4. The aircraft of claim 3 in which the front landing gear and the landing gear compartment are entirely or partially located beneath a floorboard of a cargo compartment in the lower space of the fuselage and in a section of said fuselage behind the cockpit bulkhead.

5. The aircraft of claim 4 in which the front landing gear and the landing gear compartment are in sections located along the longitudinal axis X at the level of an electronics cabinet for commercial applications associated with the cabin or the cargo storage compartment, with said commercial electronics cabinet being located in the lower space of the fuselage between the cockpit bulkhead to the front and the cargo storage compartment to the rear along the longitudinal axis X.

6. The aircraft of claim 5 in which a portion of the fuselage between a fuselage nose and essentially the cockpit bulkhead determines a first section of fuselage comprising essentially the cockpit and the electronics cabinet 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.

7. The aircraft of claim 6 in which the front landing gear and the landing gear compartment are produced in a second section of fuselage, with the second section comprising the bulge, with the second section delimited in the front by the first section and at the rear by a rear section of the fuselage.

9. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the local downward extreme is along a generally vertical axis intersecting with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.

8. A method for producing an aircraft fuselage by assembling sections of fuselage, at least a first section delimited forwardly by a nose of the aircraft fuselage and rearwardly essentially by a cockpit bulkhead, at least a second section delimited forwardly by a rear of the first section and rearwardly by a rear section of the fuselage, wherein the first section comprises essentially a cockpit and an electronic cabinet devoted to technical applications, wherein second section comprises a bulge in a lower part of the fuselage and a front landing gear compartment at least partly in the bulge and adjacent to the cockpit bulkhead and an electronic cabinet devoted to commercial applications and wherein the second section is selected between a plurality of models having a same forward joining cross section fitting with the first section and different rear joining cross sections to fit with different models of rear section of fuselage, the second section being selected to fit to the rear section of the fuselage to be produced.