Eco Factor: Self-powered landing gear and braking system.
Airbus has developed a new landing gear system that can enable the aircraft to harness kinetic energy and use it to power the landing and braking mechanism. The company has applied for a US patent for an A320 power system, which will store kinetic energy of the rotating wheels while the aircraft is taking off.
Once the aircraft is in the air, the system utilizes the stored kinetic energy to retract the gear. During landing, the gravity-assisted free-falling landing gear would again generate power, which will be used to spin up the wheels, completing the landing procedure. On the ground, the spinning wheels will again generate power that would be used to power the braking mechanism.
The system, according to Airbus, would cut down on the number of redundant cable and pipe runs, which would reduce the overall weight of the aircraft. Moreover, the energy generated would result in burning less fuel for landing and braking systems.
The Dark Side:
The system would decrease the amount of fuel required by an A320 by only a small fraction and estimating that the system won’t come cheap it would be interesting to see how many airline companies actually install the system.
Via: FlightGlobal
