What are the three basic types of landing gear?

• A. Tricycle gear, conventional gear, and tandem gear
• B. Uni-gear, bicycle gear, and tricycle gear
• C. Pontoon gear, skid rail gear, and mesh gear
• D. Cycle gear, tandem gear, and random gear

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how landing gear is arranged relative to the aircraft on the ground. The three basic types are tricycle gear, conventional gear, and tandem gear.

Tricycle gear places a nosewheel at the front and two main wheels behind it. This setup gives good forward visibility when taxiing and landing, plus stable braking and handling on the ground.

Conventional gear, or tailwheel configuration, has the two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small tailwheel at the tail. It’s typically lighter and can handle rougher fields, but it requires more pilot skill during takeoff and landing because the aircraft can be more prone to ground looping and limited forward visibility while on the ground.

Tandem gear keeps the main wheels in a line along the centerline of the aircraft, one behind the other, rather than side by side. This arrangement can suit certain designs to reduce drag or accommodate a long, slender fuselage, though it changes handling on the ground and isn’t as common as the other two.

Other options use terms that aren’t standard classifications for fixed-wing land gear (like floats for water operations or informal terms that don’t describe the common three-category system), so they don’t fit as the basic types.