How the Airbus A350’s Massive Landing Gear Is Built

What do some of the most advanced landing gear in the world, fiery oil quenches and spraying liquid penetrant under blacklight have in common? They are all in today's video, as we go inside Safran Landing Gear Systems to see how the main landing gear for the Airbus A350-900 is manufactured, assembled and tested. Landing gear may look relatively simple from the outside, but it is one of the most safety-critical systems on an aircraft. At Safran’s UK facility, we follow the manufacturing process from engineering, to machining of components, non-destructive inspection to heat treatment, oil quenching and even the customer support that make sure these gear can handle take of tonnes of weight multiple times a day, every day for years without failure. We also see the final assembly line, meet some of the apprentices learning these highly specialised skills, visit the engineering department and receive rare access to the testing facility where landing gear components are subjected to the forces they will experience throughout their working lives. The Airbus A350-900 main landing gear stands approximately five metres tall and uses advanced steels and titanium to combine strength, reliability and lower weight. And every single one of these main landing gear now flying in the world originated here, at the Gloucester facility. The Gloucester site also works on landing gear for single-aisle aircraft, including the specially developed gear used by the long-range Airbus A321XLR, as well as on military projects. Which aircraft component should we investigate next? 00:00 Introduction 02:02 Bogie beam manufacturing 06:46 Non-destructive testing 09:23 Heating & oil quench (fire!) 11:10 Interview with the Managing Director 12:26 Final Assembly Line 14:49 Engineering & testing 16:06 Customer support #AirbusA350 #LandingGear #Safran