Aircraft landing gear having a retract actuator, aircraft including the same, and related methods

An aircraft landing gear structure for an aircraft, comprising:

• a strut assembly, wherein a retracted length of the strut assembly in a retracted configuration and a compressed length of the strut assembly in a compressed configuration are less than an extended length of the strut assembly in an extended configuration, wherein the strut assembly comprises:
• an upper tubular housing;
• a lower tubular housing operatively coupled to the upper tubular housing and configured to be longitudinally translated relative to the upper tubular housing, wherein the lower tubular housing is configured to be longitudinally translated between a compressed position and an extended position, wherein the lower tubular housing is in the compressed position when the strut assembly is in the compressed configuration, wherein the lower tubular housing is in the extended position when the strut assembly is in the extended configuration, wherein the lower tubular housing is further configured to be selectively and longitudinally translated to a retracted position, wherein the lower tubular housing is in the retracted position when the strut assembly is in the retracted configuration;
• and
• a shrink mechanism, wherein the shrink mechanism is contained within the upper tubular housing when the strut assembly is in the retracted configuration and when the strut assembly is in the extended configuration, wherein the shrink mechanism is configured such that actuation of the shrink mechanism translates the lower tubular housing with respect to the upper tubular housing and thereby transitions the strut assembly between the retracted configuration and the extended configuration;
• a retract actuator, wherein the retract actuator is configured to selectively transition the strut assembly between the extended configuration and the retracted configuration by actuating the shrink mechanism;
• and
• a retraction mechanism, wherein the retract actuator is further configured to retract the aircraft landing gear structure into the aircraft for stowage during flight by pivoting the retraction mechanism about a retraction axis, wherein the shrink mechanism comprises an upper link pivotally coupled to a lower link via an apex pin that defines a pivoting axis about which the lower link pivots when the shrink mechanism is actuated, and wherein the apex pin is arranged such that the pivoting axis is at a non-parallel angle with respect to the retraction axis.