The design missions for future light helicopters and other light VTOL aircraft show a tendency towards higher cruise speeds [5] and less hover-flight (e.g. air taxi [4]). Thus, the reduction of drag is crucial to archive the intended performances and ranges. One way to reduce the drag significantly is a retractable landing gear. Today, most light helicopters use a skid landing gear because of its lightweight and simplicity. Furthermore, the hydraulic system of a conventional helicopter is not powerful enough to drive a landing gear. Thus, the challenge is to design a novel, light actuation system that is able to operate the landing gear using the available electrical power ( 1 kW). In this paper, different electro-hydraulic and electro-mechanic actuation architectures for a light VTOL will be sized and compared in order to identify the optimal design. System weight and power consumption are taken into account as performance indicators. To estimate these parameters, a preliminary sizing will be conducted for each component of the electro-mechanic and electro-hydraulic system architectures. Finally, the results will be compared in order to identify the optimal actuation system for light VTOL.
Comparison of Electro-Hydraulic and Electro-Mechanic Landing Gear Actuation for Light VTOL Aircraft
2021
11 pages
Miscellaneous
Electronic Resource
English
Aircraft landing gear actuation technologies: comparison of EHA, EMA and Electro-hydraulic actuation
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007
|High energy absorption landing gear for VTOL aircraft
Engineering Index Backfile | 1960
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