Chapter 3: Landing Gear & Ground Ops Reads

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Landing Gear & Ground Ops Reads for Vehicle Concept Artists — Air Vehicles: Fixed‑Wing

Landing gear turns flight into operations. Gear geometry, door choreography, tire language, and ground equipment interfaces decide how fighters, transports, and gliders taxi, turn, load, and survive imperfect runways. For vehicle concept artists—on both the concepting and production sides—encoding landing‑gear truth makes silhouettes believable at approach, on rollout, and at the stand. This article maps common gear architectures, shows role‑specific reads for fighters, transports, and gliders, and translates them into deliverables that modeling, rigging, physics, VFX, audio, and UI can build from without guesswork.

What landing gear must solve

Landing gear solves four problems: support (static load on the ramp), energy absorption (sink rate at touchdown), directional control (taxi/rollout steering), and integration (stowage without breaking structure or high‑lift systems). Every decision—strut type, wheel count, door style, bay placement—creates silhouette cues on approach and at the gate.

Architectures & vocabulary

Tricycle gear (nose + two mains). Modern default for fighters and transports. Stable braking and visibility on the ground. Reads as a low nose attitude with steerable nose gear and larger mains aft of CG.

Taildragger (tailwheel). Historic and bush utility; CG ahead of mains. Reads as nose‑high stance, small tailwheel, and careful ground handling.

Tandem (bicycle) with outriggers. Used on slender fuselages and high‑aspect ratio wings (e.g., some reconnaissance aircraft, gliders with auxiliary wheels). Reads as inline mains with small wingtip outriggers.

Bogies vs. single wheels. Bogies are wheel trucks carrying 2–8 wheels per strut; used for transports to spread load and manage rough fields. Fighters and gliders usually use single wheels.

Struts.

  • Oleo‑pneumatic (shock + air): telescoping cylinders; visible chrome piston when extended.
  • Trailing‑link: lever arm behind the strut; soft touchdowns and rough‑field compliance; reads as articulated knuckle.
  • Cantilever fork (gliders/nose gear): simple, light.

Doors. Clamshells, single swing, double‑hinge “gear canoe,” or no doors (partially exposed wheels). Door arcs must clear tires and flaps/slats.

Brakes & anti‑skid. Multi‑disc brakes within wheels; heat shields and fans on heavy transports; brake wear indicators on hubs.

Steering. Nose‑gear steer actuators; powered casters or differential braking on some types.

Fighters: compact, strong, and obstacle‑aware

Fighters pack gear into thin roots or fuselage bays while protecting inlets, weapons bays, and stealth edges. Reads:

  • Stance: slight nose‑up at rest; narrow to moderate track to fit bays, but wide enough for crosswind stability.
  • Struts: short‑stroke oleos; some trailing‑link mains for carrier/bad‑field variants. Catapult/shuttle lugs or launch bars on nose gear for carrier types.
  • Tires: high‑pressure, relatively small diameter; pronounced chine on nose tires to deflect water away from inlets.
  • Doors: faceted, stealth‑aligned edges; flush when closed.
  • Choreo: rapid, sequenced retraction; bay venting; gear kneel for weapons loading rarely. Production notes: lock bay location relative to spars and weapons bay; define door/strut axes, steering range, retraction timing, and wheel‑well clearances with flaps down. VFX/audio: tire smoke puffs at touchdown, vapor streaks in rain, brake chirp and pump whine; avoid excessive dust ingestion near inlets—add chine cues.

Transports: load distribution and runway kindness

Transports balance pavement loading, redundancy, and engine‑out control. Reads:

  • Stance: level to slightly nose‑up at the stand; wings droop under fuel; tail‑strike clearance geometry on long bodies.
  • Gear: tall mains with multi‑wheel bogies (2–8 wheels each), sometimes in pods on the fuselage (sponsons) or inboard of engines on wings. Some types “kneel” to lower cargo floors.
  • Struts: large oleos with trailing‑link mechanisms for smooth landings; truck tilt on rotation (bogies tilt forward or aft).
  • Tires: many medium‑diameter tires; prominent heat shields on brakes; wheel‑well fans/vents.
  • Doors: multi‑panel fairings and canoe fairings for bogies; complex overlaps; gear pins for ground safety.
  • Choreo: long, sequenced extensions; spoilers deploy with weight‑on‑wheels; thrust reversers blend into rollout. Production notes: define bogie geometry (axle spacing, tilt angle), kneel ranges, gear bay volume around flap tracks, and brake cooling airflow. VFX/audio: rubber smoke bands on touchdown, spray sheets in wet, brake heat bloom on long rollouts, reverser dust cones; audio layers for bogie rumble and brake fans.

Gliders & motor‑gliders: minimal, retractable, precise

Gliders seek low drag and low weight. Reads:

  • Gear: single retractable main with fairing doors; small tail skid or tailwheel; optional wingtip wheels or outriggers. Motor‑gliders add retractable mast or nose prop—gear must clear prop arcs.
  • Struts: simple oleo or elastomer puck; lightweight.
  • Choreo: deliberate, slow extension; spoilers/airbrakes deploy for approach while gear lowers. Production notes: lock bay depth within narrow fuselage; door gaps and flush close; tailwheel/skid wear pads. VFX/audio: faint tire chirp, dust puffs on grass, spoiler thumps; no brake smoke.

Ground ops: reads that sell the ramp

Taxi. Steering rates and geometry must imply believable turns: nose‑gear steering angle and caster trail; bogie caster on transports; asymmetric thrust cues on fighters with limited steering. Place taxi lights on nose gear or fuselage; show NAV/strobe logic.

Marshalling & chocks. Design tow bar attach points, painted no‑step/handhold zones, chock positions and gear safety pin flags (remove before flight). Include GPU (ground power) and air start receptacles with doors; de‑ice and lav/water ports on transports.

Cargo & servicing. For transports: kneeling gear cues, cargo loader interface heights, container/ pallet approach clearance. For fighters: weapons loaders and jack points. For gliders: wing runner grips and tow hook geometry.

Rough‑field & FOD. Bush/transports: mud flaps, spray rails, fender boots, wheel well liners; fighter nose tills with water‑deflecting chines; FOD screens on turboprops. Show gravel kit fairings where appropriate.

Integration: planform, systems, and safety

Gear must clear flaps/slats and engine nacelles; doors must not dump into reverser streams; brake and tire debris must not hit hot parts. Add weight‑on‑wheels sensors and squat switches; WOW triggers spoiler and thrust‑reverser logic. Provide uplock/downlock mechanisms, over‑center links, and emergency free‑fall or blower provisions. Mark jack points, jacking pad loads, and tether lugs.

Tire language & runway class

  • Fighters: narrow to moderate section, shallow grooves, high pressure; nose chines for spray.
  • Transports: more, smaller tires; deeper grooves; recapped tread variants; snow/ice optional chains or studs are rare but service kits exist.
  • Gliders: smooth minimal tread, low rolling resistance. Read terrain from tread and debris guards; ensure wheel‑well daylight and liner geometry fit.

VFX & audio cues

  • Touchdown: smoke puffs on first rotation; skid mark decals; spray sheets in wet.
  • Rollout: heat shimmer near brakes; faint dust on unpaved strips; reverser debris cones.
  • Taxi: tire crunch on gravel, joint clunks over seams; brake squeal if hot. Place emitter sockets at tire contact points, brake stacks, and reverser outlets; author audio locators at strut heads (oleo hiss), steering actuators, and bogie pivots.

Camera‑read discipline

At far range, players must parse gear count and stance: tricycle vs. tandem; bogies or singles; nose‑high/low. At mid, read door families, strut types (trailing link vs. straight), tire size and number, and taxi light positions. At near, read hinge axes, steering actuators, uplock hooks, brake stacks, and safety pins. Avoid LED strips along gear doors; anchor lights to tips, strut heads, and taxi lamps.

Concept → production deliverables

  • Metrics sheet: wheelbase (nose to mains), track width, strut stroke and static extension, tire sizes and pressures, brake energy capacity, steering ranges, retraction times, kneel ranges (if any), jack/tow loads, ground clearance at critical points (nacelle, tail, ramp).
  • Orthos (measured): plan/side/front with bay locations, door outlines, hinge axes, strut kinematics, wheel‑well clearances to flaps/slats/reversers; stance at MTOW and empty.
  • Cutaway: strut internals (oleo, trailing link), uplock/downlock, over‑center links, brake stack, anti‑skid valves, steering actuators, squat switches.
  • Exploded views: wheel/tire/brake hub, bogie truck with tilt link, door hinge + actuator, uplock hook, catapult launch bar (carrier), tow‑bar fork, chock and safety pin kits.
  • Callouts: torque values, brake energy limits, cooling airflow paths, anti‑skid logic, WOW triggers, kneel control, door sequencing, emergency extension, FOD/spray protections.
  • Ground ops board: marshalling clearances, loader dock heights, GPU/air start locations, de‑ice boom reach, tug attach geometry; “remove before flight” points.
  • Camera‑read boards: approach/flare/rollout at day/night/wet; stand/taxi views with must‑read annotations.
  • Rig pack: gear state machine, axis limits, steering schedules (low/high speed), kneel timelines, WOW triggers for spoiler/reverser, VFX/audio sockets and names.

Indie vs. AAA cadence

Indie: combine stance studies, measured orthos, and a simple rig timing strip on one evolving canvas; validate in engine with placeholder rotation, door, and steering animations plus touchdown smoke.

AAA: gate by layout lock (bay and stance), kinematics lock (axes, strokes, sequences), modeling kickoff (orthos/cutaways/callouts), rig/FX/audio validation (touchdown, reverser, taxi), and camera‑read sign‑off; ship a gear kit (strut families, bogies, doors, pins, chocks, tow bars, GPU ports) for reuse across variants.

Closing

Gear that looks engineered makes every ground beat feel right—flare, chirp, spoilers, reversers, and the quiet crawl to the stand. Whether you’re drawing a compact fighter strut, a kneeling freighter bogie, or a glider’s lone wheel, anchor stance, stroke, steering, and door choreography in structure and numbers, then hand those truths to production with clear axes and sequences. Your aircraft will land as convincingly as they fly.