Icy Runways
Jay Honeck wrote:
Well, generally speaking, a structure that is designed to fold is going
to be inherently weaker than one that is not.
No, absolutely not. The Cessna 180/185 gear is famous for folding under
the plane if the plane gets sideways. And that's what we're talking
about, getting sideways. If you're just talking about the standard
vertical loads than I still want my Bo gear rather than the 182 I used
to have. The Bo is much more stout than it needs to be whereas the 182
is merely stout enough. That's why during a prepurchase for a 182 you
better look at the main gear attach points. My 182 had that area
repaired after a hard landing decades ago. You don't run into those
problems with a Bo and as a rule retracts don't fold a gear because of a
hard landing.
There are certainly ways
to minimize this problem, but a solid piece of steel is going to be
stronger than a similar-sized one that has a hinge (or three) built
into it.
You really need to see how the gear is attached to the plane. It's not
the leg that breaks but the connection to the airframe.
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