Landing Gear

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 General

The landing gear was extensively redesigned for the NG. The nose gear is 3.5”
longer to relieve higher dynamic loads and the nose-wheelwell has been extended 3”
forward. The main gear is also longer to cater for the increased fuselage lengths of
the -8/900 series and is constructed from a one piece titanium gear beam. There is
an externally mounted trunnion bearing on the gear, a re-located gas charging valve,
and the uplock link is separate from the reaction link. It is fitted with 43.5” tyres and
digital antiskid.

Unfortunately, the 737-700 was particularly prone to a dramatic shudder from the
main landing gear if you tried to land smoothly. Fortunately, Boeing started fitting
shimmy dampers to this series from L/N 406 (Nov 1999) and a retrofit was made
available.

For the MAX. the nose gear has been extended by 15-20cm to increase the ground
clearance of the larger diameter engines .

One of the peculiarities of the 737 is that it invariably appears to crab when taxying.
Theories for this include: A slightly castoring main gear to increase the crosswind
capability; Play in the scissor link pins; Weather-cocking into any crosswind
impinging on the fin; Torque reaction from the anti-collision light !!! Engineers will tell
you that is due to the main gear having a couple of degrees of play due to the
shimmy dampers.
 Tyres

Tyres are tubeless and inflated with nitrogen. Pressures vary with series, maximum
taxi weight, temperature and size of tyres. Unfortunately this large variation in tyre
pressures makes it difficult to know your aquaplaning speed. The table below should
prove helpful, notice how the aquaplaning speeds are all just below the typical
landing speeds. Note: Once aquaplaning has started, it will continue to a much lower
speed.

Aquaplaning Aquaplaning
Series Main Gear Nose Gear
Speed Speed

Original
96 - 183psi 84 - 116Kts 125 - 145psi 96 - 104Kts
s

Classics 185 - 217psi 118 - 128Kts 163 - 194psi 111 - 121Kts

NG's 117 - 205psi 93 - 123Kts 123 - 208psi 95 - 124Kts

Another oddity of the 737 is the resonant vibration during taxying that occurs at
approx 17kts in classics and 24kts in NG's. This is due to tyre "cold set". This is a
temporary flat spot that occurs in tyres with nylon chord (ie all Boeing tyres) when
hot tyres are parked and they cool to ambient temperature. Hence the reason why
the flat spot is most pronounced in cold weather and tends to disappear during
taxying as the tyres warm up again.

The speed rating of all tyres is 225mph (195kts).

Gear Seals

Notice that none of the 737 series have ever had full main gear doors. Instead the
outer wall of the tyres meet with aerodynamic seals in the wheel well to make a
smooth surface along the underside of the aircraft. The first few 737's had inflatable
seals which were inflated by bleed air when the gear was either up or down and
deflated during transit. The landing gear panel had a NOT SEALED caption which
would illuminate during transit (normal), if it illuminated at any other time you could
have a puncture and the seal could be depressurised with the GEAR SEAL
SHUTOFF switch to save bleed requirements.

These were soon dropped as being too complicated and a similar drag and noise
advantage was achieved with the present fixed rubber seals.
 Brakes

The standard 737 brakes are a steel alloy called Cerametalix(R) with versions made
by either Goodrich or Honeywell. Since 2008 the 737NG has had a carbon brake
option from either Goodrich with Duracarb(R) or Messier-Bugatti with SepCarb® III-
OR. They are both about 300kgs lighter than steel and last twice as long.

The brake pressure gauge merely shows the pressure of the air side of
the accumulator and should normally indicate 3000psi. The normal brake system
and autobrakes are powered by hydraulic system B. If brake pressure drops below
1500psi, hydraulic system A automatically provides alternate brakes which are
manual only (ie no autobrake) and the brake pressure returns to 3000psi. Antiskid is
available with alternate brakes, but not touchdown or locked wheel protection on
series before the NG's.

If both system A and B lose pressure, the accumulator isolation valve closes at
1900psi and you are just left with residual hydraulic pressure and the pre-charge.
The gauge will indicate approx 3000psi and should provide 6 full applications of
brake power through the normal brake lines (so full antiskid is available) As the
brakes are applied the residual pressure reduces until it reaches 1000psi at which
point you will have no more braking available.

If the brake pressure gauge ever shows zero, this merely indicates that the pre-
charge has leaked out, normal and alternate braking are unaffected if you still have
the hydraulic systems (see QRH). The accumulator also provides pressure for the
parking brake.

Note that on the 737-1/200, hydraulic system A operates the inboard brakes and
system B operates the outboard brakes. Both brake pressures are indicated on the
single hydraulic brake pressure gauge.

There are four thermal fuse plugs in the inner wheel half which prevent tyre
explosion caused by hot brakes. The plugs melt to release tyre pressure at approx
177C (351F).

Brake Pressure Indication

Condition
(psi)

3000 Normal.

No hydraulics, minimum 6 applications of brakes available

3000
with accumulator.

1000 No hydraulics, accumulator used up.

Zero No pre-charge, normal braking available with hydraulics.

Brake Accumulator
Brake Wear Pin

Autobrakes
Autobrake Selector Max Pressure at Deceleration Rate
Brakes (PSI) (ft/sec²)
1 1250 4
2 1500 5
3 2000 7.2
Max 3000 12 (below 80kts)
“ “ 14 (above 80kts)
RTO Full Not Controlled

There is an "on ramp" period where autobrake pressure is applied over a period of
time. Approximately 750psi is applied in 1.75 sec, then the pressures above are
reached in another 1.25sec for autobrakes 1, 2, or 3 and approx. 1.0 sec for
autobrake MAX.
Notice from the table above that autobrake Max does not give full brake pressure.
For absolute maximum braking on landing, select autobrake Max to assure
immediate application after touch down then override with full toe brake pressure.

Using high autobrake settings with idle reverse is particularly hard on the brakes as
they will be working for the given deceleration rate without the assistance of full
reverse thrust.

To cancel the autobrake on the landing roll with toe brakes you must apply a brake
pressure in excess of 800psi (ie less than that required for autobrake 1). This is more
difficult on the NG's because the feedback springs on the brake pedals are stiffer.
Autobrake can also be cancelled by putting the speedbrake lever down or by
switching the autobrake off. I would advise against the latter in case you accidentally
select RTO and get the full 3000psi of braking!

Occasionally you may see the brakes (rather than the cabin crew!) smoking during a
turnaround. This may be due to hard braking at high landing weights. But the most
common reason is that too much grease is put on the axle at wheel change so that
when the wheel is pushed on, the grease is deposited inside the torque tube; when
this gets hot, it smokes. It could also be contamination from hydraulic fluid either
from bleeding operation or a leak either from the brakes or another source.
 Photos
The landing gear panel is located
between the engine instruments and
F/O's instrument panel.

The Green lights tell you that the gear is

down and locked and the red lights warn
you if the landing gear is in disagreement
with the gear lever position.

With the gear UP and locked and the lever

UP or OFF, all lights should be
extinguished.

On a couple of occasions I have seen 3

reds and 3 greens after the gear has been
selected down. This was because the
telescopic gear handle had not fully
compressed back toward the panel. If this
happens to you, give it a tap back in and
the red lights will extinguish.
737's used for cargo operations have an
extra set of green "GEAR DOWN" lights
on the aft overhead panel. This is
because with the cabin filled with freight,
the main gear downlock viewer could not
be guaranteed to be accessible in-flight.

The NG's also have these lights because

they do not have gear downlock viewers
installed.

If any green gear lights do not illuminate

after the gear is lowered, you might
consider a visual inspection through the
gear viewers. The main gear viewer is in
the cabin and the nose gear viewer is on
the flight deck. The main gear viewers
are not installed on NG series aircraft.

This is the main gear viewer and it is

located in the isle, just behind the
emergency exit row.

The first time you look through a viewer it

will probably take you several minutes to
Main gear viewer (not NG's) find what you are looking for, hardly ideal
if you are in the situation for real so it is
worth acquainting yourself with its use.
 There are two prisms, one for each main
gear leg. Don't forget to switch on the
wheel-well light if at night.

Main gear viewer prisms (not NG's)

Eventually, you should be able to see

three red marks on the undercarriage, if
they line up then your gear is certainly
down and probably locked.

Gear locked marks (not NG's)

The location of the main gear downlock

viewer in the wheel well can be clearly
seen in this photograph.

Main wheel-well and downlock

viewer (classics)

The nosegear viewer is located under a

panel toward the aft of the flightdeck.
There is no prism, just a long tube. This
viewer directs your eye exactly toward the
correct place for viewing but is usually
more dirty.

The nosegear down marks are two red

arrows pointing at each other.
Nosegear viewer (not NG's)
 If the gear fails to extend properly or
hydraulic system A is lost, the gear can be
manually extended by pulling the manual
gear extension handles, located in the
flight deck. This should be done in
accordance with the QRH procedure.

On NG aircraft opening this hatch affects

the operation of landing gear extension &
retraction.

Manual gear extension access hatch

This pin is designed to detect any loose

tyre tread during gear retraction. If any
object impacts on it during retraction, then
the gear will automatically extend. The
affected gear cannot be retracted until this
fitting is replaced. There is one pin at the
aft outside of each main wheel well.
Tyre damage fitting - NG only

Other landing gear system photographs

Nosewheel door (classic)

Gravel Deflector (-200)

Tail skid (-400)

Nose wheel