I don't know when storage has become an important consideration in home improvement design. How to store more items in a limited space fascinates many people. Do you know? Fighters also pay attention to "storage."
The Soviet MiG-23, NATO codenamed the Whiplash, was a single-engine, single-seat, variable-swept-wing supersonic fighter designed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Before the birth of classic fighters such as the Su-27 and MiG-29, the MiG-23 was the "right-hand man" of the Soviet air defense force. The biggest highlight of the aircraft is the use of the then popular variable swept wing design, with good take-off and landing and flight performance, high-altitude flight speed of 2646 km / h (Mach 2.35), low-altitude flight speed of 1350 km / h, is conducive to the implementation of attack after disengagement, low-altitude penetration and high-speed interception.
Another feature of the MiG-23 is the "crab claw" landing gear. This landing gear consists of two "joint" connecting rods, which take the shape of an "outer figure eight" when placed down. This design was not a deliberate pursuit of differentiation by the designers, but the machine could not use the traditional landing gear.
In general, the landing gear of fighters is usually placed inside the fuselage after being retracted, but this design does not work on the MiG-23. On the one hand, after the aircraft adopted the upper single-wing variable swept wing design, the space under the wing was squeezed by the wing box, and the lower space of the fuselage was also crowded with weapon accessories and equipment, which could not accommodate the traditional landing gear. On the other hand, the MiG-23's landing gear needs to be larger and have a wider wheelbase than normal landing gear to support its take-off and landing on rough field tracks.
To this end, the designers designed this "crab claw" landing gear with a horizontal folding structure. Its unfolded main wheelbase is up to 3 meters, which can ensure the stability of the MiG-23 when landing, and when folded, it can "perfectly" accommodate the small space of the fuselage.
After the MiG-23 was unveiled, it received rave reviews. In particular, the "crab claw" landing gear is called "magical design" in the West. Unfortunately, the actual combat performance of the aircraft was not satisfactory. Its high-altitude high-speed performance is good but the stability is poor, the low-altitude maneuverability is low, and the number of shots down is several times the number of downed opponents. Because of this, after the emergence of a new generation of fighters, the MiG-23 was quickly replaced, and this special landing gear design faded from view.
(China National Defense Daily, January 18, 2022, fourth edition)
Source: China National Defense Daily