September 17, 2014 at 4:36 pm
I’m in my mid 40’s, and have watched the BBMF Lancaster dozens of times, but until I got up close to the Canadian Lanc at Teesside, I had never noticed the ‘wonky’ wheels before! What I mean is that the wheels seem to be able to tilt sideways to some degree, with each oleo having independant movement. See Pics.
I presume there is some kind of pivot at the axle to allow each oleo to move and that there is some kind of stop to prevent the tyre rubbing on the leg through over travel. Now having thought about the design, I’d expect it would be impossible to make a rigid system that would handle side loads. So on aircraft such as the Halifax, Stirling and Mosquito etc? did they all have a similar system allowing the wheel to tilt?
Does anyone have any drawings or details of how this works and the stops to prevent over travel? and does it cause any ground handling issues?
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By: Arabella-Cox - 18th September 2014 at 09:42
Thanks.
By: Camlobe - 18th September 2014 at 00:25
Hi Vultee 35,
Good spot. It is part of the design. Each end of the axle is held to its U/C leg by a large diameter pin. This allows the type of angular displacement displayed in your pictures. Chaffing blocks are installed on each leg, and act as sacrificial limit stops. Can’t comment on the Halibag, Stirling or Mossie, but the Lanc’s grandson, the Shackleton, utilised the same design.
Camlobe