Aircraft types and chapters

A300 · ATA 32 · Landing Gear

Landing Gear

Gear arrangement, tyres and footprint of the A300-600 as given in the Airbus Aircraft Characteristics (AC). Tyre pressures here are airport-planning data, not servicing values.

A300-600 · Airbus AC airport-planning data

FIG. 32 · A300ISO 62°SRC · AC A300-600 §7.21 UNIT = 100 MM
Landing gear footprint — scale model[1]
Click or use arrow keys to change MRW
165 900 kg · A300B4-600Maximum ramp weight (MRW)
9.6 bar (139 psi)Nose gear tyre pressure
12.8 bar (186 psi)Wing gear tyre pressure · 49 x 17-20

Model to scale (1 unit = 100 mm). Rulers: 18 604 mm nose axle to bogie centre, 9 600 mm between main gear centrelines. The gauge beside the nose gear reads nose tyre pressure, the gauge beside the main gears reads wing gear tyre pressure (49 x 17-20). Tyre proportions follow the general tyre-size convention (outside diameter x section width - rim), which the AC does not state. Struts, torque links, hubs, pads, chocks and gauges are schematic model parts, not aircraft data. Not a manual drawing.

Main gear, part by part

Scroll to take one main gear leg apart, from the outside in. Part names and functions are a general principle from the FAA Airframe handbook (US practice), not A300 maintenance data; only the four-wheel bogie, the tyre size and the wheel spacing come from the Airbus AC.[2][1]

FIG. 32-2 · A300ISO 40°SRC · FAA-H-8083-31B Ch.13 · AC §7.2SCHEMATIC · NOT TO SCALE

Assembled leg

Schematic: shapes, the jig and the bracing layout are illustrative. Tyre 49 x 17-20 read with the FAA size convention (diameter x width - rim); A 927 mm and B 1 397 mm wheel spacing from the AC.

  1. 00

    Assembled leg

    One main gear leg with a four-wheel bogie: two axles, two wheels per axle.[1]

  2. 01

    Tyres

    Carry the aircraft's weight on the ground, give grip for braking and help soak up landing and taxi loads. Size reading: outside diameter x section width - rim diameter.[2][1]

  3. 02

    Wheels (split wheel)

    Two light-alloy halves bolted together, sealed by an O-ring for tubeless tyres; the tyre sits on the bead seat. Thermal (fusible) plugs let the tyre deflate before brake heat can burst the assembly.[2]

  4. 03

    Multiple-disc brakes

    Hydraulic pistons in the housing push a pressure plate against a stack of stationary stators and rotating rotors; a wear pin shows lining wear.[2]

  5. 04

    Brake disc stack

    One brake opened up, from the piston end: housing with pistons and a wear pin, pressure plate, then rotors (keyed to the wheel, turning) between stators (keyed to the torque tube, fixed), and the backing plate at the fixed end.[2]

  6. 05

    Bogie (truck) and axles

    When more than two wheels share one strut the frame is called a bogie; the axles carry the wheels. On the A300-600 it is a four-wheel bogie.[2][1]

  7. 06

    Torque links

    Hinged links from the fixed upper cylinder to the piston: the piston cannot turn, the wheels stay aligned, and the piston stays in the cylinder when the strut extends.[2]

  8. 07

    Shock strut piston

    The lower tube slides in the fixed upper cylinder. On touchdown fluid is forced through an orifice past a tapered metering pin, turning impact energy into heat; the compressed air or nitrogen above acts as the spring.[2]

  9. 08

    Side brace and downlock

    Upper and lower links hinged in the middle so the brace folds on retraction; when the gear is down a lock holds the links over-centre so it cannot collapse.[2]

  10. 09

    Drag brace

    Braces the leg between structure and strut; locked straight for ground operation it stops the gear swinging on its trunnion. Drawn here as one rod; the FAA example folds in two.[2]

  11. 10

    Retraction actuator

    A hydraulic cylinder that pulls the gear up into the well and, with pressure on its other side, lowers it again.[2]

  12. 11

    Outer cylinder and trunnion

    The fixed upper cylinder holds the compressed gas and has the servicing valve. Its trunnion carries bearing surfaces mounted to the structure, the pivot on which the whole leg swings up and down.[2]

Overview

  • The A300-600 has a nose landing gear and a main landing gear group; in its footprint tables the AC calls the main gear the "wing gear".[1][1]
  • The footprint drawing shows two wheels on the nose gear and, on each of the two main gears, a four-wheel bogie (two axles, two wheels per axle).[1]
  • The AC lists turning-radius data for two main-gear bogie variants, the "original" bogie and the "La Guardia" bogie.[1]
  • The AC derives its pavement requirements from a static analysis of the loads on the main landing gear struts.[1]

Tyres by maximum ramp weight

ItemMRW 165 900 kg (A300B4-600)MRW 171 400 kg (A300B4-600R)MRW 172 600 kg (A300B4-600R)
Nose gear tyre size40 x 14-16 or 40 x 14 R16samesame
Nose gear tyre pressure9.6 bar (139 psi)9.9 bar (144 psi)9.9 bar (144 psi)
Wing gear tyre size49 x 17-20 or 49 x 19-2049 x 17-20 only49 x 17-20 or 49 x 19-20
Wing gear tyre pressure12.8 bar (186 psi) / 11.6 bar (168 psi)13.4 bar (194 psi)13.4 bar (194 psi) / 12.1 bar (175 psi)

Sources[1][1][1]

  • Where two wing gear pressures are given, the first goes with the 49 x 17-20 tyre and the second with the 49 x 19-20 tyre.[1]

Footprint geometry

  • Nose gear axle to main gear bogie centre, along the aircraft axis: 18 604 mm (61 ft) (general term: wheelbase).[1]
  • Distance between the two main gear centrelines: 9 600 mm (31 ft 6 in) (general term: wheel track).[1]
  • Lateral spacing of the two nose wheels: 625 mm (24.6 in).[1]
  • Bogie spacing depends on tyre size: A is the lateral spacing of the wheels on one axle, B the fore-aft spacing of the two axles — 49 x 17-20: A 927 mm (36.5 in), B 1 397 mm (55 in); 49 x 19-20: A 978 mm (38.5 in), B 1 524 mm (60 in).[1][1]
  • AC worked example (A300B4-600, MRW 165 900 kg): 95 % of a 150 000 kg gross weight, i.e. 142 500 kg, rests on the main gear group. This is one example condition, not a general load split.[1]

Ground handling notes

  • The AC allows conventional towing with a towbar or towbarless towing.[1]
  • The nose gear leg has two towbar fittings, one forward and one aft, for towing or pushing with a towbar.[1]
  • The AC says this is possible at maximum ramp weight, with engines at zero thrust or up to idle thrust.[1]
  • The towbar needs a damping system to protect the nose gear from jerks, and calibrated traction and torsion shear pins (values not reproduced).[1]
  • Towing procedures and limitations are referred to AMM chapter 9 and are not covered here.[1]

Sources

Every fact on this page links to a public source. Accessed dates are shown per document.

  1. Airbus AC A300-600 — Aircraft Characteristics, Airport and Maintenance Planning, Revision 13 (2009-12-01) — §7.2 pp.1–3 / PDF pp.140–142; §7.2 p.1 / PDF p.140; §7.4 p.1 / PDF p.144; Contents p.2, items 4.3.2–4.3.3; §4.3 p.1 / PDF p.63; §7.1 p.1 / PDF p.136; §7.2 pp.1, 3 / PDF pp.140, 142; §7.2 p.2 / PDF p.141; §7.2 p.3 / PDF p.142; §5.8 p.1 / PDF p.95; §5.8 p.3 / PDF p.97. https://www.aircraft.airbus.com/sites/default/files/2023-02/Airbus-Commercial-Aircraft-AC-A300-600-Dec-2009.pdf · accessed 2026-11-08
  2. FAA-H-8083-31B Aviation Maintenance Technician Handbook - Airframe, Issue 31B (2023) — Ch.13 pp.13-74–13-75 (tyre size convention); Ch.13 pp.13-74–13-75; Ch.13 p.13-34; Ch.13 pp.13-46–13-49; Ch.13 pp.13-47–13-49; Ch.13 pp.13-4, 13-9; Ch.13 p.13-9; Ch.13 pp.13-7–13-8, 13-11; Ch.13 pp.13-21, 13-27; p.13-5 Fig.13-10; Ch.13 p.13-17; Ch.13 p.13-21; Ch.13 pp.13-7, 13-9, 13-16–13-17. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/FAA-H-8083-31B_Aviation_Maintenance_Technician_Handbook.pdf · accessed 2026-11-08

Choose your language

You can change it anytime from the top bar.