Description

On aircraft with tricycle configuration landing gear, the nose wheel is either free castoring or, by some mechanism, steerable to facilitate directional control during takeoff and landing and to allow the aircraft to manoeuvre whilst on the ground.

Discussion

The undercarriage, more commonly referred to as the "landing gear", of the vast majority of currently in service aircraft types is of a tricycle configuration. In its simplest configuration, the landing gear comprises a single nose wheel mounted near the front of the aircraft and two main wheels mounted on either side of the aircraft with attachment points either on the fuselage or the wing. The landing gear may, or may not, be retractable whilst in flight. The design of larger aircraft may incorporate multiple wheels on each gear strut or include additional strut/wheel assemblies. In all cases, the nose wheel(s) must, by some mechanism, be steerable to allow the aircraft to manoeuvre and to maintain directional control during takeoff and landing.