Concorde undercarriage

[driverrob]

OH & I were at Brooklands Museum on Monday:

We spent several minutes trying to figure out how the undercarriage can possibly fit up through the relatively small holes in the wings and fuselage.
Does anyone have a link to something that shows how it happens?

[oj113]

Flaps....

Cunning use of flaps/doors that open at the point the crew raise the carriage...

[24lemons]

I'm pretty sure there are doors that open up to accommodate the undercarriage as it folds backwards

[El Capitano]

The gear doors open and allow the retraction/extension of the undercarriage. I'm not too familiar with the concordes, but nose gear will raise upwards towards the nose of the aircraft and retract. You can see the gear doors at the top of the photo, where the lights are mounted.
The main gear will retract inwards towards the main fuselage.

Maybe YouTube Concorde takeoff will show?

[williamp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wK0cSsJRU&fea...

this shows it well: folds forwards.

Oh, isnt it time for another "petition to get a concorde flying for the olympics"..?? Havent seen one for a while now

[Simpo Two]

You didn't spot those bomb bay jobbies wth the lights on then?

[FactoryBacked]

My tenuous claim to fame is that my grandad was part of the team that designed the undercarriage for Concorde. Shame he died before I was old enough to talk to him properly about things like that.

[driverrob]

Simpo Two said:

You didn't spot those bomb bay jobbies wth the lights on then?

It was the main sets of wheels we were more puzzled by. From the video they clearly fold towards the fuselage but the opening is very narrow there and any flaps/bays are not at all obvious.

[Eric Mc]

With the main wheels, the undercarriage legs are partially telescopic which allows the assembly to shorten as it rotates uopwards into the wheel bay.

Concorde's undercarriage is much taller and "stalkier" than a contemporary sized subsonic airliner mainly because the delta wing requires a much higher angle of rotation on take off and a much higher nose up atitude at touch down.
The tall undercariage allows these high angles to be achieved without the tail striking the ground - although under the tail you might have noticed a set of small "tail bumper" wheels - which were there just in case the angle was a bit too steep.

[spitfire-ian]

driverrob said:

It was the main sets of wheels we were more puzzled by. From the video they clearly fold towards the fuselage but the opening is very narrow there and any flaps/bays are not at all obvious.

It has doors which open from the fuselage...



http://heritageconcorde.com/?page_id=4356

[MitchT]

williamp said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wK0cSsJRU&fea...

this shows it well: folds forwards.

Oh, isnt it time for another "petition to get a concorde flying for the olympics"..?? Havent seen one for a while now

Nice bits of footage there. Every time I see that thing fly I end up with a lump in my throat. Damn!

[FourWheelDrift]

If you think the undercarriage was a tight squeeze there's a great time lapse video here of them turning the Brooklands Concorde around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZXN-p1Q5zc

Just needs the Benny Hill theme playing while they do it

[750turbo]

MitchT said:

williamp said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wK0cSsJRU&fea...

this shows it well: folds forwards.

Oh, isnt it time for another "petition to get a concorde flying for the olympics"..?? Havent seen one for a while now

Nice bits of footage there. Every time I see that thing fly I end up with a lump in my throat. Damn!

Me too - Absolutely stunning!

[driverrob]

spitfire-ian said:

It has doors which open from the fuselage...



http://heritageconcorde.com/?page_id=4356

Thanks for that, Ian.