Posted on

Video answers: Why the 737 doesn’t have landing-gear doors

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. Boeing wanted the 737 to be low to the ground, as a result they realized that they didn’t have enough space for landing-gear doors.
  2. They’re heavy and complex, making the plane heavier and more likely to have a problem and cause delays.
  3. No, the landing-gear doors cover the wings and landing gear struts, but not the wheels.
  4. Boeing engineers decided to place hubcaps on the wheels to reduce the drag.
  5. If the hubcaps are lost there is a significant fuel penalty that the pilots have to apply to the flight plan.
  6. Boeing uses rubber blade seals to remove the gap between the wheel and the wheel-well bay.
  7. As the main landing gear is retracted, the brakes are applied to stop the wheels spinning.
  8. Icing doesn’t affect the wheels as the aircraft flies because that’s not an area of the plane that typically suffers from icing. Icing usually forms on wing leading edges, horizontal stabilizers, tail fin and the nose.

Follow us on twitter here, Facebook here or Google+ here for more great content!

Posted on

Video: Why the 737 doesn’t have landing-gear doors

This week’s video describes why the 737 doesn’t have landing-gear doors and why that works.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. What made Boeing decide not to use landing-gear doors?
  2. What are some of disadvantages of landing-gear doors?
  3. Is the 737 landing gear completely uncovered?
  4. What did Boeing do to reduce the drag created by the exposed tyres.
  5. What happens if this solution is lost?
  6. What solution did Boeing create to prevent objects being thrown into the wheel-well bay?
  7. What happens to the main landing gear wheels as they’re retracted?
  8. Why doesn’t icing affect the tyres as the aircraft is in flight?

Follow us on twitter here, Facebook here or Google+ here for more great content!

Have a great weekend!

Why does the Boeing 737 not have any landing-gear doors?

Paid promotion: https://brilliant.org/mentourpilot/ Have you ever seen a Boeing 737 take off and noticed that the wheels are still visible after the gear has been retracted? In this video I will tell you all about the reason for this, the aerodynamic impact and some protection systems that you might not know about.